How To Mend A Broken Heart
by Necia89
Summary: Draco & Hermione are have been assigned to work together on a longterm mission.What happens when the couple are sidetracked and Draco develops feelings for Hermione?Will Hermione learn to love again, even if it's Draco? Please R & R! Rated M just in case.
1. Prolouge

**PROLOUGE **

The sun shone with all its brilliance on that summer day. Hermione watched the rows of houses and buildings pass by as the horse-drawn carriage she rode in approached closer and closer to the church. The day had finally arrived; she was getting married. She felt Ginny take her hand.

"You look gorgeous 'Mione" she said softly to her. Hermione smiled at her. She wore a simple, yet elegant spaghetti-strap white gown that was adorned with flowers and pearls. Somehow, her hair stylist managed to tame her hair (with magic of course) and style it neatly into an elegant messy bun adorned with small blue flowers. The wedding colours were baby blue, but with Ginny being the maid of honour, wore a midnight blue gown. The gown brought out Ginny's jade eyes, which stood out more than her fiery bush of red hair.

Everything was prefect. The day was glorious, not a cloud in the sky. The birds seemed to sing with the beauty and joy that Hermione felt deep inside her heart. The dance of the butterflies perfectly resembled the flutter of butterflies she was experiencing in her stomach. She looked back at the road and once again was lost deep in her thoughts.

Graduation from Hogwarts seemed like it had been an eternity ago when in fact it had only been three years. As predicted, Hermione graduated with the top grades of the class. She felt a little twinge of jealously that Malfoy, of all people, lingered closely behind her in achieving the best grades. At the same time, although he was her mortal enemy, he switched sides at the last minute to fight against the Dark Lord. She heard that his father practically disowned him after that little fiasco, but that's beside the point.

After graduation, she decided to take up Auror studies and one day work for the ministry. Malfoy followed. She wondered where he was now, perhaps on a mission? She was grateful that Malfoy decided to help the Order in defeating Voldemort but that was the last thing on her mind. The only thing she could really concentrate on was the fact that, within the hour, she would be the new Mrs. Ronald Weasley.

She felt the carriage come to a stop. The horses neighed. "We're here!" Ginny exclaimed with such glee that Hermione feared that if she weren't careful, she would have a little accident and ruin her dress. The butterflies in Hermione's stomach fluttered even more. She stepped outside the carriage and waited for Ginny to come around. Ginny embraced her tightly and whispered in her ear, "I'm so happy for you 'Mione. We're going to be sisters. Makes sense really, I love you as if you were my sister." They smiled at each other and Ginny, somehow, managed to run towards the church in 9" heels without falling over. It was quite the sight really; Hermione couldn't help but laugh out loud. It reminded her of a half chicken, half flamingo prancing about like a loon. Ginny disappeared into the church. Hermione looked up at the sky, a single grey cloud was starting to form, but that wasn't going to ruin her prefect day. She took a deep breath and started to walk towards the church.

The doors opened. The organ started to play the infamous and completely cliché, Wedding March. Ron insisted on it. She made her inside the church and could hear the rustle of two hundred guests standing up, awaiting for the bride. A toothy smile came across Hermione's face. She no longer had the ugly buckteeth she did in school, she hated them and did a little spell to give her the prefect smile. The dress appeared yellow compared to her teeth.

She held her head up straight in the air, and made her way, elegantly to the alter where the nervous-wreck of Ron was waiting for her. She chuckled inwardly at his state. If he didn't calm down, he would have a nervous breakdown and end up wetting himself and looking like a complete prat. Maybe it was a family trait. "_Maybe his knickers are itchy_" Hermione thought and giggled at the idea. She felt that all eyes were on her, looking at her from head to toe, but she was looking at Ron. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, at least to the point where he would be able to stop himself if he was about to wet his pants. She smiled at him. "_Halfway there_" she thought. She noticed a shadow move some ten feet away somewhere beyond the alter, hidden in the darkness. Since when did shadows move on their own?

A hooded figure emerged with a wand pointed directly at Ron. Hermione tried to cry out but a lump in her throat suddenly developed. Her eyes widened, and all she could do was watch. A flash of green light, and it was over. Hermione fell to her knees; everyone around her was in panic, several hexing the hooded figure but missing their target.

She laid her eyes upon Ron's crumpled body that lay lifeless at the alter. She felt a strong pain in her chest, she clutched at her heart, so this was a broken heart. The hood of Ron's murder finally gave away, revealing long, sleek, bleach blond hair that was covered in greys. A sneer look, a hysterical laugh of a maniac. Lucius Malfoy.

She saw Harry throw a hex at Lucius, and at an instance, stiffened his entire body, locked his arms to his side and he fell to the ground with a thud. Everything had gotten blurry. She looked towards the ceiling. She and Ron had decided on this church because it had a glass ceiling. Several clouds had gathered in a short period of time. The heavens thundered and the rain started to fall. She looked back at Ron. Molly lay next to her son, cradling his lifeless body and crying out towards the heavens. Harry came running towards her, everything was getting dark. The last thing she was Harry's shocking emerald eyes looking into hers and then all was black.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

_3 years later._

He woke up with a started and jolted as he sat right up. He was covered in sweat and he had only just realized that he was breathing like there was no tomorrow. He ran a hand through his damp hair, closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. As soon as he closed his eyes, the horrific images appeared before his eyes once again.

He had another nightmare, the ones that seem too real to be a dream. He saw his father, looking down at him, laughing manically while he beat him with a cane. "I have no son!" he would cry. He saw his mother; her lifeless body drenched in blood lay behind his father's back. He had beaten her to death. But he started to reason with himself, it was only a dream. His mother was not dead; she was safely at home in her warm bed, hopefully not accompanied by her boyfriend that she insisted that he must meet. He had been able to avoid that specific meeting for almost two months now. It's not like he avoided the meeting, he was just never around often enough. That was his excuse. Lame, but it served its purpose.

His father locked up in Azkaban prison and hoped that someone had thrown away the key. Everything in its place? Yes, but where the hell was he right now? He looked up. A mirror that was adjacent to the bed showed him his reflection. Draco Malfoy. Age twenty-three. Bleach blond hair that he wore loosely to give off the casual yet sexy look, rock hard abs, killer smile, and silver eyes. Yum.

Location, some girl's apartment; what's-her-face, Katie or whatever. Current state, scared as hell because everything in the room, including the blankets, was hot pink with a few shades of black, and he was completely naked. Wonderful. How manly he felt using a blanket that probably belonged to a five year old. He heard the shower running somewhere in the background. Maybe he could leave without what's-her-face knowing. He gladly jumped out of the Barbie inspired bed and searched for his clothes.

The shower turned off. So much for ditching Barbie-land. What's-her-face stepped out of the bathroom loosely wrapped in (who would have thought) a hot pink towel. Draco was surprised that her hair was black.

"Draco baby, leaving so soon?" she asked in a "coy" voice. Draco shuddered. She had a high- pitched voice that reminded him too much of a sick cat. At first he thought it was the Canadian accent but then he realized, that was the manner in which she talked.

"'Morning Katie, uh yeah, I have to catch my um, plane remember?" Draco laughed inwardly, muggles and their airplanes. " I was only here for a week on a business trip. I told you that. But I had fun, staying here with you". If looks could kill, Draco would have been dead ten times over.

"My name is Michelle, Draco and you are not leaving me" she pouted and glared at him.

"Beg your pardon?"

"I won't take that shit from you. You think you can just use me to have a good 'shag' as you call it, like a common whore? I am a woman of value Draco. You're never going to find another woman like me."

"Woman of value eh? I would think that a woman of value would wait more than two days to sleep with a guy she just met. And you're right; I'll never find another woman like you and I hope I don't. Woman like you really aren't my type, I prefer ones with a little more dignity. Besides, I'm allergic to cats. See you around." Draco picked up his black Gucci coat and walked towards the door.

"Draco! You are NOT leaving me do you hear! I uh, I'M PREGNANT! Son of a bitch! DRACO!"

He slammed the door. She sounded like a sick cat when she talked, a hyena when she moaned, and an angry orangutan when she screamed, such a lovely combination. A whole safari in a 5'1" Canadian girl. He made a mental note. Don't ever date cat-like women again.

He made his way down the stairs and into the back alley of the apartment. Steven Link, the head of the Auror department, had sent him to Canada to investigate on the whereabouts of a possible Death Eater that could still be roaming about. Turned out that it was a poor muggle that once been tortured by a Death Eater, had gone mad, and now called himself Batman and said he was to destroy the world using the Unforgivable Curses. He seriously thought he was Batman; he wore a black cape and had a mask with pointy ears. He carried around a twig, or his "wand" screaming "crucio!" at random people on the street. That's a sight you don't see everyday.

Draco was able to modify the poor man's mind and restore him to his sanity. Draco thought it would have been an interesting explaination to the family on his whereabouts. "I was fighting the Joker and the Riddler, they formed an alliance and I had to stop them! But then I sought out a way to destroy the world! Oh, and I picked up a cheeseburger on the way." He stood behind a garbage can. He liked this city, Calgary, or Cowtown he heard people call it. He made another note that he would come back to visit some day and, with that, he apparated back to Malfoy Manor. He didn't want to arrive at the Ministry of Magic without taking a shower first. Malfoy Manor, the memories from this place came swarming back at Draco, and they weren't very pleasant.

Ever since Draco was a little boy of around, three years of age, his father held great expectations for his heir, and he wasn't going to allow his only heir to be a failure. Whenever Draco would fail or not put in all his effort into a spell or lesson, he would be beaten. He grew up, knowing little of true love and affection, only being shown a glimpse of such feelings by his mother, behind his father's back.

His mother didn't escape Lucius' beatings either. The few times his mother would comfort her son and heal his wounds, Lucius would beat her, claming that it was the only way Draco would learn and if he wasn't going to learn, then he should be punished for it. He hated his father for this. Lucius demanded that Draco was to follow in his footsteps one day and become one of the Dark Lord's right hand men. Draco dreaded the idea and hoped for the Dark Lord never to return.

Since things never really went the way he intended, the Dark Lord did return. They were all screwed. But he hid these feelings, not wanting to show weakness and fear; it was not the Malfoy way of being. He may have been saner that his father, but he knew better than claiming that brute violence was the answer to solve all problems. But as Malfoy grew, he knew that these thoughts were signs of weakness, and therefore wore a mask. He was to hate all muggle-born witches and wizards (although the Dark Lord himself was one. He wished someone would explain that to him), and he was to be proud of who he was and where he was coming from.

Being vulnerable as child, he did. He grew up meeting his father's expectations, but never to their full extent. Finally, the day came when he was to prove himself to the Dark Lord that he would be a worthy Death Eater. If he did, he would receive the Dark Mark. Great. He was assigned to kill Ronald Weasley. Why? Simply to anger Harry Potter. Oh joy, murder someone just for the hell of it.

Even though Draco could not stand being in the same room with the boy-who-won't-die and his clumsy chum more than one minute, he couldn't bring himself to murder someone just because. What was the point exactly? He thought that the Dark Lord was nothing more than an extreme pessimist, or maybe he wanted to be the new Hitler of the magical world. Whatever the reason was, Draco would not follow and refused to kill Ron.

Of all the mistakes that Draco had committed, that was one of the worst. He knew that he was done for and sought out to Dumbledore for help. Draco joined the "good side" and the rest is history. The Dark Lord was vanquished and the Death Eaters that were not taken to Azkaban somehow got away and went into hiding, his father included.

Draco stepped out of the shower, drying his hair as he walked into his bedroom in all his naked glory (the lucky bastard had an en-suite bathroom). He quickly got dressed and combed his hair. He took out a piece of parchment and wrote a quick note to his mother.

_Hello Mother, _

_As you can see, I have returned from my trip to Canada. Beautiful country, but lots of cat women. I have left for the Ministry. I shall join you at dinner tonight._

_Draco_

He took a final look in the mirror, satisfied with what he saw, he apparated to the Ministry. For the tenth time in a row, he almost walked into his office door when apparating to work. He once gave himself a bloody nose, but no one was around to see this embarrassing moment. He opened the door and walked into his office but stopped dead in his tracks.

An elderly woman was sitting at the front of Draco's desk. She wore a knee-length plain black skirt, and a long-sleeve white blouse that was buttoned all the way up. He wouldn't have been surprised if she was wearing granny knickers. He imagined she had sleek brown hair but couldn't tell since she wore it in a tight bun. He shuddered and felt as if he was looking at a slightly younger version of his former transfiguration professor.

"It's about time you got here, I've been waiting for almost forty-five minutes," she said annoyingly. "Where exactly have you been?" That's when he realized she wasn't an elderly woman.

"Hello to you too Granger. My trip went fine, thanks for asking. You're too kind" Draco answered sarcastically. He loved annoying her, he found amusement in it.

" We're supposed to be in Mr. Link's office. Apparently he has an assignment for the both of us." She frowned as she said this. She resembled more of an old prune when she frowned.

"Geez, Granger. It looks like you'd rather eat a whole lemon than work with me" Draco said.

"You're an insufferable, arrogant brat and you've made us late." She headed for the door and made her way towards Mr. Link's office.

"_Guess I should follow. She calls me an arrogant brat, yet she insulted me. Women." _he thought, and followed Hermione to Mr. Link's office. Just what he needed, to work with sour-faced granny knickers Granger.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Just the story ) and just to clarify things a bit…Dumbledore isn't dead (yay!) We'll just pretend that a specific incident didn't occur in the 6th book okay? Okay! Now, on with the story…

**Chapter 2**

Hermione made her way briskly to Mr. Link's office. She hated being late; tardiness just wasn't her thing. "_Stupid Malfoy with his stupid attitude, stupid everything" _she thought angrily to herself. She never did get along with Draco, everyone knew that all too well. Ever since day one, she knew perfectly well that Draco was destined to be her mortal enemy.

Her conscience was pestering her, telling her that she hated Draco (_since when did start calling him Draco?_) simply because he _was _a Malfoy, that he was _his _son, the teasing and name-calling was in the past. She sighed, she knew that this was somewhat true, and hated herself for it. It wasn't Draco's fault that Ron died, he had nothing to do with it, but that didn't change the fact that he was a Malfoy nonetheless.

She felt Malfoy trailing behind her, she quickened her steps; she didn't like the feeling of Draco behind her. She arrived at Mr. Link's office and softly knocked on the door. She heard a sudden shuffle of movement inside and heard Mr. Link answer abruptly, "Ahem, come in." She opened the door and walked inside, Draco following behind. She heard Draco attempting to muffle a laugh, but failed and tried covering it up with a cough. Hermione turned a bright shade of scarlet.

Steven Link was a widower for almost seven years; a man of about forty, he still had all his hair, and didn't look his age at all. People would mistake him for a man ten years younger and was well respected. But to see him in this current state, it was just utter embarrassment. Mr. Link was readjusting his tie, his hair was in a complete mess and his secretary, Elizabeth, a big-breasted, red hair 28-year-old, was busy pulling down her hiked up skirt and readjusting her robes. His desk was in complete disarray with papers and books lying abandoned around the floor.

"Ah, please excuse me. Elizabeth here was helping me find my balls, uh some documents I was meant to sign earlier today. Ahem, Elizabeth, I must attend to these two fine Auror's, we'll continue this later" Mr. Link finally managed to say with difficulty. Elizabeth left his office, readjusting her hair, winking at Mr. Link as she closed the door. Hermione blushed even more if possible, making her look like she was a human tomato. Draco had to chuckle, Hermione quickly turned her head towards him and glared. He was surprised she didn't snap her neck judging how quickly she twisted her neck.

"Please excuse the mess, we had a little…difficulty. Please, take a seat" Mr. Link conjured a couple of red velvet cushioned chairs. As Hermione and Draco sat down, Mr. Link waved his wand and muttered a cleaning spell.

"Mr. Malfoy," he began, "I trust that your trip went well?"

"Meh, just a poor old muggle. A Death Eater tortured him a while ago, causing him to temporarily lose his mind. But I took care of it" Draco answered, feeling proud and pushing out his chest. Hermione rolled her eyes. Now that she was a mere few feet away from him, she could smell his cologne. "_Hmm…hmm?!? What am I thinking?_"

"Excellent Mr. Malfoy. Now, I'm sure that the two of you are curious to what this assignment I have in mind for the two of you is." Hermione sat right at the edge of her seat, she loved assignments, and they made her feel useful. Any closer to the edge of the chair, and she would fall straight on her bum-oley. "You seem eager Miss Granger, good. Anyhow, I am assigning this to the two of my best Auror's on this mission because I know what the two of you are capable of. I need you two to investigate on a particular Mr. William Denoyers and his wife Jacqueline. Correct me if I am mistaken, but I believe that Mr. Denoyers and his family were of close relations to yours, Mr. Malfoy?" Draco shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Yes, they have a daughter, Marie, who both her parents and mine hoped I would marry one day, mainly because her ancestral history consists of well-known purebloods. "

"Right. I knew William in my youth, good man. Unfortunately, there have been suspicions that he is a Death Eater and could be a dangerous threat. Anyhow, he wrote me a letter saying that he is coming to London with his family to pay a visit. I unfortunately, will be away for about a month or two during his visit on a… business trip with Elizabeth" Hermione turned scarlet once more. "He mentioned that he made contact with your mother and is planning to stay at Malfoy Manor during his visit. I need you to keep him under surveillance. Now Miss Granger, the part in which you come in, with Mr. Malfoy's permission of course, you are to stay at Malfoy Manor as well, keeping surveillance on the Denoyers family along with Mr. Malfoy. Although Mr. Malfoy is big boy, I believe that he will need assistance on this task. Any questions?" Hermione's facial expression was that of an old prune once again.

"How long would I…are the Denoyers staying in London?" she asked, quickly rephrasing her question.

"They are planning to stay here for quite some time actually. What month are we currently in again? November, yes. Nearing December, alas Christmas is upon us. He says that he wishes to stay perhaps until around spring." Hermione's jaw dropped in disbelief. Draco frowned.

"On what excuse is Granger supposed to give for staying at my house?" Draco asked annoyingly. She glared at him.

"_Miss _Granger, Mr. Malfoy. Oh, I'm sure you can think of something. Perhaps an old friend from school paying a visit?" Hermione snorted. Draco tried to cover his laugh with a cough again. He honestly wasn't very good at it. "Anyhow, any more questions? None? Good. William shall be arriving at Malfoy Manor tomorrow night, probably around dinnertime. You and Miss Granger must arrange a time for when she may arrive at your house. But I leave that to your better judgment. If there are no other questions, that is all."

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

"He's late! Argh, what did I expect?" Hermione complained. She and Draco had arranged that he would pick her up at her small flat at 6'O clock that night. It was now 6:30. She had suggested that she could simply apparate to the Manor, but Draco brought up the fact that she didn't know the address and wouldn't know how to explain to Mr. Link if half of her body ended up somewhere in the country.

He had then suggested that he would pick her up on his broom. She half suspected that he insisted on this so he would be able to show off his new broom. Joy. She insisted that the muggles would be able to detect them in the air, flying on the broom. He argued otherwise and assured her he had his ways to avoid them. In the end, she agreed but now was regretting that decision.

"Evening Granger" came a voice from behind her that made her jump and yelp.

"Malfoy! Don't you ever do that again! Where did you come from?"

"Potty's not the only one who has an invisibility cloak you know". She couldn't see him in the darkness, only his silhouette but could smell the strong scent of his cologne. She had to admit it was a pleasant scent, probably the only thing pleasant about Malfoy anyhow. "Come on," he took hold of her hand. "Dinner is almost ready and I'm starved."

He mounted his broom and offered her his hand. She ignored his offer and sat behind him. She thought she would hold onto the actual broomstick itself, but that's when she realized…

"You're going to have to hold on to me Granger. Not that I mean to displease you, but I'd rather not have you sliding off the back of my broom." He was almost certain that she wore a prune expression on her face. Hesitatingly, she snaked her arms around his waist. "You're going to need a tighter grip than that Granger. Slide up a bit. Good. Now," he took her arms, "hold on like this" and made her squeeze him until her body was pushed up against his to its full potential. "_Perfect," _she thought, "_Might as well take my clothes off." _She mentally slapped herself for thinking that. She could feel his abs through his robes and she could feel his heart beat. The scent of his cologne tickled her nose. His hair smelled like mint. She couldn't help but think that the situation was soothing. In a sense, she felt secure.

"Got a good grip? Hold on" he said. He threw his invisibility cloak over the two of them and he took off into the night with Hermione holding on for dear life.

**A/N: **Well? What do you think? Good? Could be better? Horrible? Should I continue on with this story? You tell me! I hope you're enjoying it so far. To my first reviewer, BeccaBear89 thanks so much for your reviews! Inspiration! I luuuuuurvvve you hun!


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Just the story.

**Chapter 3**

Within ten minutes, Draco and Hermione arrived at the Manor just a few kilometers outside of the city. Hermione couldn't be happier. She hated flying, and was glad that she made it alive. She jumped off the broom and could have kissed the ground, which she practically did.

As she was jumping off the broom, her foot became entangled with her robes; she did a small flamingo hopping dance, and fell flat on her face. Draco practically wet himself laughing, and wiped tears away from his eyes as he offered his hand to Hermione.

"Are you alright Granger?" he managed to say in between chuckles.

"Yes, I'm _fine _Malfoy. Not too certain why you're so concerned," Hermione snapped. Again, she ignored his hand and hoisted herself up. She was completely covered in mud, which caused Draco to start off again on another laughing spree.

"Maybe you should take a shower and change your clothes," he suggested, once again wiping away tears.

"Captain Obvious to the rescue. I could just perform a cleaning spell"

"You seem tense, I think a warm bath might loosen you up a bit." He offered to carry her luggage, which she threw harshly into his chest, causing him to fall back a few inches. "I take that as a yes" he said. He led her towards the main entrance. A house elf opened the door and greeted them both.

"Welcome home young Master Malfoy sir, and welcome young master's guest." He bowed until his nose was inches from touching the ground. Hermione took note of the entrance. The marble tiled floor was beige with specks of green. The walls were painted a dark, evergreen colour, which were covered in portraits of people Hermione assumed, were Draco's relatives and ancestors. The lighting wasn't very dark, as Hermione had suspected, the entrance actually gave a very welcoming sensation.

"Thank you Loppy, please take this Miss Granger and her luggage to her room and please draw her a bath. She…is in need of a bath as you can probably tell." Draco glanced at Hermione, and chuckled a little before asking Loppy, "Where is my mother?"

"Mistress is in dining room she is awaiting young Master and guest," replied Loppy before scurrying off with Hermione's luggage. "This way miss, follow me."

"Oh, before you go, I should mention," Draco said to Hermione. "I assigned a house elf for you named Wanda. She'll style your hair and lay out your clothing for dinner and such."

"Thanks, I guess" Hermione answered, turned on her heel and followed Loppy to her room. Draco watched her walk away. He craned his head to the right a little, and thought to himself "_Nice ass. Wait, what did I just say?"_ He mentally slapped himself. Ew. He was checking out Granger's bum. Nice. He remembered the granny knickers. Maybe she was always in a fowl mood because her knickers were all twisted up, being so big and all. He chuckled at his clever joke, turned and walked towards the dining room.

Hermione was led to a spectacular room that she assumed, was almost as big as the master bedroom. The room, who would have guessed, was decorated with green and silver colours. There was a massive, Victorian-style four-poster bed in the middle of the room that was covered in fluffy pillows and surrounded by luxurious semi-transparent curtains. To the left, there was a small seating area with a welcoming fireplace, two lavish velvet green chairs, a matching loveseat, a writing desk by a window, and a bookshelf that was filled from end to end. To the right, was an en-suite bathroom and a walk-in closet.

Who would have thought that a guest room was to have an en-suite bathroom? Adjacent to the closet was an elegant Victorian-style dresser and mirror that made a set with the bed. The room was gorgeous. "_I might get used to this_" Hermione said to herself. She turned to thank Loppy, but hadn't realized that he had drawn the bath and left while she gawked at the splendor of the room.

She shrugged, thinking she would thank him later and made her way to the bathroom. She pampered herself, trying the different kinds of bubble bath and soaking in the Jacuzzi-sized tub. Although she hated to admit it, Malfoy may have done something right about suggesting a bath. She looked around and wondered where the towels were.

Draco had gone to greet him mother and inform her of his return. He mentioned that his guest had gone to dress for dinner and he was to do the same. He made his way to his room, wanting to change into his dinner clothes. He loved dressing up; he loved looking properly dressed at all times. He decided on a pair of black Dior dress pants, a white Hilfiger polo shirt, and black Prada leather shoes, freshly polished. He was a brand whore.

He sat on his bed, tying his shoelaces when he heard the door from his bathroom open. "_Oh shit…I forgot…" _but it was too late. A scream of bloody murder pierced his ears. He looked up. Granger had walked out of the bathroom the way she was brought into this world, completely naked. She didn't find the towels. He couldn't help but smile. Hermione ran back towards the bathroom, slammed the door screamed at him from inside.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?!"

"Getting dressed for dinner, why?"

"What are you doing in here? I thought this was my room!"

"Oh, funny story. This is my room."

"Why was I brought to your room? And where the hell are the fucking towels?"

"The towels are around the tub and you were brought to my room because this is where you'll be residing for your visit. I told you."

"You told me no such thing!"

"I didn't? Funny story really." Hermione opened the door, now safely wrapped in a green fluffy towel, covering her nakedness and with smoke practically coming out of her ears. "I want an explanation Malfoy" she gritted between her teeth, menacingly. Draco sighed, but couldn't help smiling at the fact he had just seen what was underneath that towel only about a minute ago.

"It was my mother's idea. She said that we were to tell the Denoyers that you were my fiancé for the time being"

"WHAT?"

"Calm down, I'm not so thrilled about the idea either. Anyways, mother said that with the Denoyers visit, it's almost positive that they will hint at a wedding between Marie and myself. My mother has never liked Marie, too skanky for a Malfoy. I never liked her either, no dignity. So in order for them to stop pestering us, she thought up of the wonderful idea of telling them that you were my fiancé. But it's just for the time being. So, do you think you could play along?"

"This is absurd! That doesn't explain why I'm staying in your room. I'm guessing you'll be in the next room or something?"

"Why? This is my room. No, we have to make it look real so we are to share my room. Trust me, I jumped for joy as well, but I rather be share a room with you than listening to some wedding plans for a wedding that's never going to happen." A look of complete horror was plastered onto Hermione's face.

"Don't worry," Draco said, seeing a chance to annoy her, "If you don't wish to sleep in the same bed with me, I'll sleep on that couch over there while you sleep in the bed" as he pointed to the loveseat. Hermione blushed. He laughed. "I'm just kidding, I will be sleeping on the couch for your sake, but you don't know what you're missing" and he laughed like a loon when Hermione turned a bright scarlet colour once again. "Oh, and there are some clothes that you will be wearing throughout your visit that my mother had picked out for you. If you are to play the role of my fiancé, it has to be believable, starting with the clothes you wear."

"What's wrong with the way I dress Malfoy?" she questioned him.

"Um, let's just say that it's not the way any fiancé of mine would dress. Oh, and since we're supposed to act happy as two peas in a pod, we're on first-name basis now. I'll see you in a little while, _Hermione_" he answered as he put emphasize on her name and left the room. She screamed as he closed the door behind him.

"Arrogant prat!" She had just noticed there was a simple jade coloured dress along with under garments lying neatly on the bed along with matching heels beside the foot of the bed. There was also a house elf, who she assumed was Wanda, preparing the dresser with brushes, hair spray and other styling products. "Oh, I can predict right now that this is going to be _loads _of fun."

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As Draco made his way towards the dining room, he could not help but to smile at the Granger-walking-out-in-her-nuddy-pants incident. He kept thinking that Granger, amazingly, appeared to have a gorgeous body underneath the McGonagull-inspired attire. Perhaps he should have a better look sometime. Wait…what? Again, for the second time that night, he mentally slapped himself. Any more thoughts like that and he would have to physically slap himself. He entered the dining room, seating himself across from his mother. He greeted her once again.

"Hello Draco, I trust that your guest shall be joining us soon?" she asked.

"She shouldn't too long. She was in the bath when I went to change."

"How did she take the idea of pretending to be your fiancé?"

"Quite well actually. No problem at all."

He heard the clicking of heels down the hall, making their way to the dining room. "_Finally"_ he thought and stood up to greet her. She entered the dining room and Draco could not believe his eyes. She looked stunning.

The dress she wore clung closely to her, framing her hourglass-shaped body. He noticed that her skin appeared a delicate creamy smooth tone that glowed with all its might. He thought that the sun was put to shame at the sight of this. She barely wore makeup, practically going all-natural except for the eyeliner to define her eyes and some gloss on her plump lips. Her hair no longer resembled a wild animal or any former professor but was wavy and shiny and appeared soft to the touch (so he thought judging by the way it looked). She wore a green barrette in her hair as the finishing touch.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably. She had only been gawked at in a similar fashion such as the way Malfoy was twice her life. Once, at the Yule Ball in their fourth year at Hogwarts and her shortened wedding that turned into a funeral. Although she had been admired, she had never had Malfoy look at her in this way so much to the extent that his jaw was hanging open. Usually when he looked at her, his expression would be that of disgust, annoyance, or of laughter. She was ready to ask him if he needed a bucket in case he started drooling all over the floor when his mother spoke up and walked towards her.

"Welcome my dear to our home," she said as she embraced Hermione in a friendly hug. "Draco had told me much about you, but nothing about how beautiful you are. It seems that you have left him speechless and dumbfounded. Come now Draco, show your lovely guest to her seat." Draco seemed to finally break his mesmerized state, and offered his arm to Hermione, which surprisingly, she took. He led her to her seat, next to him. Once they were seated, several house elves appeared, carrying trays and trays of a variety of food and pouring wine. Draco's mother was the first to speak.

"I mentioned that Draco has told me much about you my dear, but never anything about your name or your family. Draco seemed to have forgotten that detail. Would you mind sharing with us perhaps?" At this, Hermione and Draco looked at each other. Hermione knew perfectly well what Malfoy's thought of muggle-borns and half suspected that she would be thrown out of the house, ruining their mission. She decided to take her chances with the truth besides; Draco's mother was not Lucius Malfoy and perhaps she had different views on muggle-borns.

"My name is Hermione madam, and-" Draco cut her off.

"She comes from quite a line of purebloods."

"Ah, excellent, no mud then. But then how is it you ended up in Gryffindor?"

"My father, he was in Gryffindor" Hermione replied, slightly offended by Mrs. Malfoy's remark. She made a note to thank Malfoy for saving her from making a huge mistake. The idea of thanking Malfoy was somewhat odd and unusual to her.

Dinner with Draco and his mother was actually quite pleasant for Hermione. Dinner at the Malfoy's was a long process and they ate and conversed late into the night. There were no further questions on her "pureblood" history and Draco's mother shortly retired to her bedroom after dinner was over.

Draco led Hermione back to "their" room, walking in silence until they entered the bedroom. Draco left Hermione in the room for a few minutes, allowing her some privacy to change into her pajamas. She crawled into his over-sized bed and waited for his return. The mattress was extremely comfortable and she felt that she would doze off at any minute.

Draco knocked on the door a few short minutes later, asking for permission to enter, waited for her response, and entered. He chuckled as he entered the room, seeing Hermione's small frame completely out of proportion with the massive bed, lying only to the right side. He turned off the lights, and stripped down to his silk boxers. He stepped into the washroom and brushed his teeth, feeling exhausted from the meal he had just eaten, and thinking about Gra-Hermione and how beautiful she looked. Who would have thought Hermione had all of _that_ underneath her granny knickers. He walked back out in his room, lying down on the couch, which for the next few months was to be his new bed. Joy. He was about to doze off when Hermione spoke up.

"Malfoy? Are you awake?"

"Mmff. I suppose"

"I- I just wanted to thank you for not telling your mother that I am a muggle-born. I'm sure that if I had told her, I would have ruined this mission."

" It was no problem .You need to learn how to read people. You have no idea how much trouble you can get yourself into if you're not careful." There was silence for a few minutes where only the sound of their breathing could be heard.

"Hermione," he hesitated. "I just want to compliment you on how you looked tonight. As my mother said, I was completely dumbfounded. Personally, you should dress like that more often."

"And why should I do that?"

"You're an attractive woman underneath all those old-fashioned clothes you wear. It suits you better." Hermione smiled into the pillow. Malfoy had complimented her, and she wasn't going to let that one go. She was about to tease him but sleep overtook her and she soon was in a deep and sound sleep.

Draco waited for her to say something, he knew that she was going to say something about him being nice to her, but she must have fallen asleep. Maybe she didn't hear him. He turned over on the couch, attempting to sleep but he couldn't. Malfoy's just didn't sleep on couches.

He thought of a brilliant idea, at least, to him it was brilliant. He looked over to his bed. Hermione's silhouette slightly raised and dropped in tune with her breathing; fast asleep. He made his way carefully over to the bed, sliding cautiously underneath the covers. He would wake up early the next morning before she did, lay back down on the couch and would act as if he had slept there the whole night and no one would be the wiser. Perfect.

He lay on his back, taking in all the bed's comforts, instantly feeling relaxed and sleepy. He felt Hermione shift in her sleep and move towards him. She snuggled up against him and nuzzled her face into his chest. "_Oh shit. Now what?" _

He thought about trying to push her back to where she was, but that would wake her up and then there would be hell to pay. In the end, he gave up on any ideas and decided to let her stay in this position. She would move eventually.

Being this close to her, he could smell the scent of strawberries from her hair. He hesitated, but was curious and lightly touched her hair. It was extremely soft, like a feather. His arm was in an awkward position until he wrapped it around her, bringing her even closer to his body. Her soft breathing tickled Draco's chest, but it soothed him. Something about holding Hermione like this felt different, as if this was how it was meant to be. He could no longer ponder on why this felt so right. His eyes felt droopy and within seconds, he fell asleep.

**A/N: **Well, there you go. This chapter was a bit longer than the previous ones but I hope you enjoyed it. I got reviews! And they were good ones! (does the happy dance) Thanks so much to BeccaBear89, Kidkate, Brie. H and WinnieThaPoo92 for your kind and inspirational words! I love you all! mwah. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story so far and I hope I didn't bore you with this latest chapter. I'll update again soon.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own nada. Just the story.

**Chapter 4**

The sun shining through the window tickled Hermione's face as she stirred. She had never remembered when was the last time she sleep so peacefully and comfortable. She did make a mental note to get a softer pillow though; the one she slept on was too firm for her liking. She put her hand to her pillow and wondered why it was so warm and…moving? Pillows shouldn't move, should they?

Her eyes snapped open, revealing that her firm "pillow" was actually Draco's chest, rising up and down in a peaceful slumber. She sat up as quickly as she possibly could, moving away from Draco and accidentally pushing him off the bed with her feet as she did. He landed with a great thud on the hardwood floor causing him to curse out loud.

"What in the name of bloody hell do you think you're doing Malfoy?" she yelled at him. A mess of bleach blond hair popped up from the edge of bed.

"Ow that hurt. If that's how you usually say good morning, I'll make sure I'll send you an owl with a note saying good morning next time instead of facing you in person" Draco answered.

"You have some serious explaining to do Malfoy! Why were we…why were you holding me like that? What the hell happened last night? Did we-" she didn't finish the sentence but rather pulled the blankets closer to her body.

"No _Hermione_, nothing happened last night, I'm not the type of scum to take advantage of a woman. Besides, I highly doubt you would have forgotten if you and I had, well, done anything of the sort I think you have in mind."

"Then why were you sleeping beside me? What happened to sleeping on the couch? You're lucky I didn't hex you." Draco lifted himself from the floor, rubbing his bum as he did. She hurt his pride when he landed on his bum.

"You try sleeping on that thing. It's nothing compared to this bed. Besides, you weren't supposed to wake up before I did, it didn't go according to plan. I was supposed to wake up and pretend to have slept on the couch the whole night. It was a brilliant idea at the moment at least" Draco pouted and disappeared into the washroom.

She thought he resembled more of a goldfish when he pouted. She couldn't believe how casual he was acting about the whole situation, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Why would he, Draco Malfoy of all people, sleep next to her all night, holding her like some sort of lover? Didn't he find her repulsive? She got off the bed and stood in front of the dresser mirror.

"I can't believe you would do something like that Malfoy but then again, what was I expecting from a prat like yourself? I think it's best if I just sleep in a spare room." Draco walked across his room, putting on an ebony green cotton house robe and making his way to the door.

"I don't know why you're so fussy and offended about the whole thing. You were the one who cuddled up next to me in the first place." A malicious smile spread across Draco's face as he stepped outside the room. "It's a fact, women just can't enough of me, that doesn't make you any different. You have to admit though that you enjoyed having me hold you like that, even if it was unintentional. But if ever want to know why the women truly love me so much, just let know. Trust me, cuddling isn't why they can't get enough of me." He closed the door with prefect timing just as Hermione threw a hairbrush in his direction.

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The remainder of the day was uneventful until later that evening when the Denoyers' were to arrive. Late in the afternoon, Draco offered a tour of the manor to Hermione, which she agreed to. She was still angry with him from the events from that morning, but didn't want to waste her time and energy arguing with, calling him an arrogant prat because whatever she said to him just went through one ear and straight out the other. He was really was a prat, and annoyed her immensely; and he knew this all too well.

The rest of the manor was just as magnificent as the little that she had already seen. Even though she hated being in the house of the brute that murdered Ron, she couldn't help but admire its beauties. The was an enormous study and library that became Hermione's new favourite room, a ballroom probably the size of the Great Hall in Hogwarts she imagined. They had a tennis court and small Qudditch pitch out in the backyard. He had suggested playing a small game of Qudditch at one point, but Hermione declined the offer. Although the sun was shining, it was quite chilly and Qudditch really wasn't her thing; it involved flying.

There was an indoor swimming pool with a Greek-themed arrangement that Hermione instantly fell in love with. As they walked around the pool, she said to Draco, thinking she was being smart-mouthed, "This is probably the one place that makes you feel like a god doesn't it Malfoy?" Draco smiled. He had a nice smile, she thought. The little voice at the back of her head told her otherwise; it was a _beautiful _smile. She nagged at herself for being so foolish and then nagged at herself again for talking to herself. "_Oh bugger. Now I'm talking to myself. That's just grand."_

"You'd be surprised Gra-_Hermione,_" he knew she hated how he put emphasize on her name; her face would shrivel up like an old prune every time he did it. He thought that if she kept doing that, her face would be stuck like that. Although, he could always perform a spell to make her face stay that way, but then she'd probably castrate him or something. "I can pretend to be a god in any room, but I am the god of all gods in the bedroom." He stopped walking and laughed like a loon when he saw her turn scarlet with anger but soon found himself within the pool.

He came to the surface, shaking the water out of his hair and face. Hermione was practically on the ground, laughing her head off until he thought of a quick revenge. She was wearing a white shirt. He reached out for her foot, and before she could react, he pulled her into the pool. She came to the surface, gasping for air. Once she had caught her breath, she slapped Draco across the face.

"You imbecile! Why the hell did you do that for?" she yelled.

"If I recall, you did it to me first. I don't know about you, but you look more like a prune to me when you get all angry and huffy. Besides, we're only playing, no need to get all worked up. I really am starting to think that your knickers are always twisted up." He dived into the water before she could slap him again. He came up the surface and saw that she had gotten out of the pool was throwing daggers at him with her eyes.

Although she was angry, she did have nice eyes. A really beautiful brownish colour, they reminded him of milk chocolate. Damn. He thought about asking her to slap him again when Loppy appeared and announced that the Denoyers would be arriving in about an hour. Hermione stood up and started walking away. Draco hoisted himself out of the pool and called after her.

"You seem cold _Hermione_." She stopped, turned on her heel and fingered him before storming off again, crossing her arms over her chest as she did.

Hermione cursed as she made her way back to Draco's room. "Who the hell does he think he is? This is _Draco Malfoy_ he hates my guts! Why is he acting as if we've been best buds since the beginning of time? Oh, he is so annoying!" She performed a drying spell as she made her way to his room and into the washroom.

She decided against taking a bath and stepped into the shower instead. As the water fell on the back of her neck, she thought about how at this moment, she could be Hermione Weasley. She hadn't thought about Ron for almost a month now, not wanting to mope about how things would have been different. She couldn't stand walking around the house of Lucius Malfoy, the man who destroyed her happiness.

After some time had passed since Ron's death, friends and family would encourage her to go out, meet new people, telling her that there was still a chance to love and be loved. She hardly listened to these comments, wondering if they had ever experienced what it was like to have a broken heart. She would ask if they knew how to mend a broken heart, she would try to love again. Her mother had told her that she had to open up her heart once again, give the chance to be loved, but Hermione refused. She claimed that when Ron died, she locked her heart and was never to love again.

She shook these thoughts out of her head, coming back to reality and realizing that she had a job to do. She stepped out of the shower, drying her hair as she re-entered Draco's room. Wanda was fussing about, laying out Hermione's dinner clothes on Draco's bed. After she had gotten dressed and was sitting patiently, watching Wanda magically style her hair, she noticed a small velvet box with an envelope that had "Hermione" written on it sitting on the dresser. Curious, she reached for the envelope and opened it. It was from Draco.

_As you already know, you're passing off as my fiancé during the Denoyers visit. Or perhaps you have forgotten, let me remind you. While you are here, you are to be my fiancé for the time being, and you have come to live with my mother and myself until the wedding. _

_I think that Mr. Link's idea of you being a friend from school that was visiting would have been more believeable and perhaps more bearable but I rather pretend to be engaged to you, Miss Huffy Knickers Granger than having to endure pesky implications about marrying Marie. _

_The velvet box contains an engagement ring that has been passed down from generation to generation in the Malfoy bloodline. You are to wear it during the time you spend here. Although I know that the both of us are jumping for joy at the idea of pretending to engaged, I am grateful that you agreed to help me keep Marie off of me. You can say that I owe you. See you at dinner._

_Draco_

Bloody hell, she had forgotten. She never really did a clear and direct answer to Draco's proposition. Pretending to be the future Mrs. Draco Malfoy made her skin crawl but she reminded herself that it was part of the job. It wasn't as if they were actually engaged, it was simply a cover-up. Besides, she liked the idea of having Malfoy owe her a favour. She could use that to her advantage. She smiled slightly as she put the note aside and took the small box in her hand and opened it.

She gasped. The ring was extraordinary; it was every woman's dream to have an engagement ring like this one. It was a silver platinum band, with a generous-sized white diamond in the center, possibly the size of a small pebble or even bigger. On either side of the diamond was a small emerald that had the first letter of the names of the bride and groom to be magically engraved into it. On the left emerald, there was an elegant "D" and on the right emerald was an equally elegant "H".

For being passed on from generation to generation, it was in magnificent condition. The stones glistened in the light as she examined it before slipping it onto her finger. It fit perfectly, as if it was custom-made for her. She figured it had a spell placed on it to accommodate to her finger.

Wanda finished styling her hair and squeaked as she spoke, telling Hermione that she had finished. Hermione stood up, thanking Wanda as she scurried off. She turned and faced the full-length mirror. She could hardly believe that Hermione Granger was staring back at her.

She wore a knee-length, fuchsia coloured tube-top, and fairy like dress that was adorned with white flowers and pearls from the knees all the way up. Her shoes, matched the dress perfectly. Fuchsia 9" side-strap stilettos, with a white flower attached at the strap closest to her small toe. Her hair was straight this time with a part on the right side of her head. Wanda had given her bangs that framed her face beautifully.

She could hardly believe it was her staring back at her and not a princess from a foreign country. Draco walked into the room and stopped at the moment he saw her. Even though he was a prat, she couldn't help but to notice how handsome and mature he looked. He wore a black suit with a red polo shirt underneath, bringing out his silver eyes. He smiled at her and was the first to speak.

"You look stunning. I would have never guessed that you were Hermione Granger, Miss Twisted Knickers and prune-faced." She glared at him. So much for being mature. He smiled once again. "I'm just kidding, no need to throw daggers at me. I just came up to check if you were done. They should be arriving at any min-" The doorbell rang. "Come on, let's go, _Hermione."_

They walked together down the hall and once they reached the staircase, Draco offered his arm to Hermione, which she took. She could feel his arm muscles through his suit; she rolled her eyes knowing that he was flexing to show off. They descended the stairs in the most elegant and sophisticated fashion that Hermione was really starting to believe she was Draco's fiancé. She shuddered at the idea and concentrated on not making a fool of herself by falling down the stairs. She noticed that when even wearing 9" stilettos, she was still about a foot shorter than Malfoy. As they reached the main entrance, they could see Draco's mother conversing with the Denoyers.

"Ah, here he is now, " Narcissa said, approaching Draco and Hermione. "Draco, you remember the Denoyers yes?"

"How could I forget? I hope you all find yourselves in good health" Draco responded, shaking William's hand and kissing both Jacqueline's and Marie's hand.

William Denoyers was a man about forty or so, with slightly graying hair and small spectacles. He had small dark blue beady eyes, a pointy nose, and a neatly combed mustache. He wore a sour expression on his face, even though he seemed happy to see Draco and his mother. He looked as if he had never smiled in his life.

Jacqueline was about the same age or a couple years younger than her husband. She seemed proud and snobbish but wore a kind and gentle smile. She was a short green-eyed woman, with red hair, placed neatly into a bun. Hermione turned her attention towards Marie.

When Draco had told her that Marie was a slut, she understood why, judging by what she wore. She looked more like a cheap hooker than a spoiled high-class rich girl. Marie was about 23 years of age; fiery shoulder-length red hair and her eyes were dark blue colour, almost as if they were violet. She looked very much like her mother, but not in the lady-like fashion. She wore an extremely short black leather mini-skirt that barely covered her feminine area. Hermione was sure that when she would go up the stairs, you would be able to get a clear view of what was underneath her "skirt"; Hermione only hoped she wore underwear.

She thought that she might as well call herself Jane and swing from tree to tree in search of Tarzan. She wore a hot pink halter-top that had a dangerously low v-neck that went past her navel and attached to at the back, when was completely exposed. She wore a silver necklace that attached to her belly button piercing and she had a Celtic sun tattooed around her belly button. To complete the hooker ensemble, she wore tight black knee-length leather boots with a pointy toe and an equally pointy heel and was carrying a pink knee-length fur coat.

"I was just complementing Marie on how…grown up she is, don't you think Draco?" his mother asked, glancing towards Marie. Marie gleamed and perked up, pushing out her large chest when Draco laid his eyes on her. He seemed to shift uncomfortably on the spot, wishing he could tell her she looked more like a hooker than grown up, but went along with the flow.

"She absolutely does. But how rude of me, I haven't introduced my _fiancé, _Hermione" he answered as he turned his attention towards Hermione. Jacqueline and Marie quickly snapped their necks towards Hermione, with Marie instantly glaring at Hermione. Hermione felt shivers go up and down her spine as Marie's violet coloured eyes looked at her, from head to toe, taking in every detail. William walked over to Hermione and took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips and gently kissed it.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Hermione," he said sincerely. It shocked Hermione how a person like this could be suspected to be a Death Eater but then again, looks can be deceiving. She thanked William and walked over to Jacqueline, lightly kissing her cheek and greeting her. She moved to Marie who showed no interest in greeting Hermione and folded her arms underneath her chest, leaving Hermione standing like a fool with her arms open.

"Is this some kind of joke? You can't be serious Drakey," Marie protested. She had an extremely whiney, high-pitched voice that was positively annoying. It sounded more like nails on a chalkboard than a human voice. Draco walked over to Hermione, taking her hand and placing it on the familiar spot on his arm. "Of course I am serious. Do you think I am the type of person to lie about something as delicate as this?"

"Marie, please comport yourself. Narcissa just complemented on how grown up you are. You do not want to prove her wrong do you?" Jacqueline said disapprovingly.

"Please excuse my daughter, she still has some bad habits that need readjusting" William spoke as he shook his head at Marie. "I congratulate the both of you on your engagement." There was a short and awkward silence afterwards until Narcissa spoke. "Let's not just stand here with our tummies rumbling, let us go have dinner."

William offered his arm to his wife and Narcissa, leading the way to the dining room, with Marie following behind in a sulky fashion. Draco led himself and Hermione towards the dining room, following Marie, as she occasionally turned her head around and shot nasty glares towards Hermione. Hermione whispered to Draco, "You have quite the list of nicknames, _Drakey_" as she tried to muffle a small laugh. Draco sighed and looked at her. "You better not start calling me that, I absolutely _hate _that name"

"I'll keep that in mind." Hermione smiled, she finally had a way to annoy Draco. Perhaps this whole situation wasn't as bad as she thought.

**A/N: **Well, there you go. New chapter! What did you think? Love it, hate it, love to hate it? I've edited the chapters that had the larger blocks of text so that it's easier for all of you to read. Thanks **sooooo **much to all my reviewers, I love you all. You guys are awesome mwah.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Nothing is mine; it all belongs to the talented J.K. Rowling. The story is mine though (does the happy dance).

**A/N: **By the way, we're going to pretend that Narcissa has a brother named Thaddeus, okay? Okay! Also, the name "Denoyers" is pronounced Den-y-a. Alright, now on with the story!

**Chapter 5**

Almost a month had passed since the Denoyers had arrived at the manor and Christmas was rapidly approaching. Ever since the morning that Hermione hurt Draco's pride by pushing him off the bed, Draco slept unenthusiastically on the couch, not wanting to repeat the lovely morning greeting. Hermione was grateful.

She loved Christmas; the atmosphere had always perked up her spirits and she was in an extremely good mood on the first Saturday of December; it had snowed the night before and everything outside was covered in the delightful snow. Draco took note of her good mood, how could he not?

"Well, well Hermione," he had given up putting the annoying emphasizes on her name but only from time to time. "I never thought it possible that you would be able not to resemble a prune." Amazingly, she didn't glare at him or smack him at all; she simply smiled and laughed. She actually laughed at one of his "witty" remarks!

Hermione had to admit that so far during her stay at the manor, Draco acted and treated her like a gentleman and devoted the majority of his time to her; part of the plan she presumed. A Malfoy, treating a muggle-born like an equal. She never thought such a thing would be possible. He often teased her but she quickly responded by calling him Drakey, which instantly shut him up.

Surprisingly so far through out this time, Draco and Hermione were able to make their engagement believable. When they were asked how they had meet and about the engagement, Draco made up a story that if Hermione hadn't known it was all an act, she would have believed it. He told the Denoyers that he and Hermione had met in school. They had been good friends throughout their whole schooling experience, and stayed in touch after graduation.

Three years after graduation, they started dating and had been for three years after that until he "popped the question" two months previously. The story that Draco described how exactly he had asked Hermione to marry him shocked her. He said that he had rented out an entire restaurant, and spread rose petals all over the entire floor. There were musicians playing romantic music in the background and he had cooked the entire meal that consisted of her favourite dishes. After dinner, he had asked her to dance with him and declared to her how much he loved her and proposed.

Hermione had no idea that Draco could think of something so romantic. As he told this little white lie, she tried not to appear as if it was the first time she was hearing it; Marie watched her every move. William and Jacqueline congratulated them and gave them their best wishes on their future "wedding" although they seemed reluctant. Marie simply glared at Hermione as usual and pouted. She looked enviously at the ring that sat neatly on Hermione's finger and sulked whenever Draco was in the room.

The first week of December passed without much difference. Neither Hermione nor Draco took note of any suspicious behaviour from William that could be linked to Death Eater involvement, but they had quite a bit of time to determine anything, almost half a year in fact. Hermione was growing accustomed to Marie's frequent glares. She had not spoken one word to Hermione since the day the Denoyers arrived, and that didn't bother Hermione at all. She much rather preferred if Marie didn't speak at all, the noise that she claimed was her voice hurt Hermione's ears.

Sunday morning came; ending the first week of December and everyone was sitting in the family room early in the afternoon, "enjoying" each other's company. Narcissa, William, and Jacqueline politely conversed occasionally asking Draco, Hermione, or Marie for their opinion on certain topic. Hermione and Draco sat next to each other on the loveseat, unfortunately facing Marie who sat beside her parents on the larger couch.

Hermione tried not to pay attention to Marie's insufferable glares, but rather tried to keep her attention on William and every word he said. She tried to act lady-like, using Narcissa as her example so the idea of her being Draco's fiancé would be more believable. She sat perfectly straight, with one leg crossed over the other, making sure she wasn't making a complete fool out of herself. Draco must have felt her tension at one point, that he unsuspectingly took her hand in his.

She froze, what was she supposed to do? She couldn't just take her hand back, it would look suspicious, and after all, they were "in love"; holding hands was the most normal thing to do in the book. As uncomfortable as the situation was, she let her small hand be held in Draco's.

She could feel Marie's piercing eyes go right through her, as if making a hole right through the middle of her head. He laid her hand upright so that her palm faced right side up. He softly caressed her palm, running his fingers up and down her hand, often making small circles in the middle of her palm. Somehow, she found this small unsuspecting gesture relaxing, soothing.

"Relax," he whispered to her. Hermione looked up to Draco, seeing that he wasn't looking at her, but paying attention to William and his mother's conversation but continued caressing her hand.

As much of a prat that he was, she couldn't help but to notice that Mal-_Draco_ was in fact quite good looking. She might have refused to ever open her heart again (especially not to Draco) but that didn't mean she couldn't reward her vision with a handsome face. She examined his face, taking in every detail that she hadn't seen before.

His eyelashes, although pale, were extremely long and curled all the way up. They seemed to "open up" his eyes more, allowing for his silver eyes to be admired even more. She wondered if he used an eyelash curler but figured that an action like that would have been equally as bad as being disowned by his own father, not entirely but pretty close. She noticed that when he smiled, small dimples formed, giving the closest thing to a perfect smile, in Hermione's mind at least. She noticed his lips, they appeared soft and sensual, tempting to taste. She realized what she had just thought. "_Tempting to taste? Eww, I'm checking out Malfoy and now I'm thinking about KISSING him! Erlack!" _

At that moment Loppy entered the room, carrying a red envelope and handed it to Draco's mother. He bowed and scurried off as Narcissa opened the envelope's contents.

"Ah, yes I was wondering when this would arrive," she said after a couple minutes of silence. "Every year, my brother, Thaddeus Kingston hosts a wonderful Christmas ball at his manor in Birmingham. He has invited us to attend and I insist that you William and your family join Draco, Hermione, and myself. I assure you will have a splendid time." Kingston, Hermione recognized the name but couldn't place her finger on it.

"Thaddeus hosts the most magnificent balls, just about everyone in high society attends, you must join us," Narcissa continued. Hermione pushed the thought of where she had heard the name to the back of the mind. She was more concerned with what Draco's mother had just said. Knowing perfectly well how these high-class society "parties" worked; she figured that if the most important people in society were gathered in one room, there would obviously be…

"The Daily Prophet's reporters always attend these parties and publish a story in their newspaper. I remember last year, my cousin KeeLee and I were on the front page," Draco said.

_Shit. _Just as Hermione suspected. With reporters bustling about, they would hear that Draco Malfoy, a person well known in the wizarding world, was engaged and surely something like that would appear on the front page. And of course, there will be pictures, lots of pictures of him with his "fiancé". Hermione slightly panicked. Draco squeezed her hand; he must have been thinking the same thing as she was. A large amount of explaining and more lying could easily be foreseen.

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Later that afternoon, Draco had suggested a stroll around Diagon Alley, perhaps to get a start on Christmas shopping. The Alley was extremely busy, crowded with people pushing their way through shops to get their hands on the best gifts at the best prices. This was the first time Hermione and Draco had gone out as an "engaged couple" and Hermione thought about how she would explain to people she knew the circumstances under she currently found herself in.

She was not too concerned if she had seen any of her close friends (which really consisted of Harry and Ginny) because she had written to them and explained the whole situation or rather, the ordeal she had to go through with while staying at Malfoy Manor.

Draco had bought Hermione an exquisite black fur coat and leather gloves for the winter season which reluctantly, she accepted. She found it odd how the person who once wouldn't even bother giving her the time was suddenly buying her expensive fur coats. Quite the extreme she thought. Again, she figured it was all part of the plan and went along with it.

As they walked along, she held onto Draco's arm for dear life; high heel boats and ice just simply did not mix. Whoever thought of the ridiculous idea to make boats in the winter with an extremely pointy heel and no grip was a complete moron. At around 5'O clock, Narcissa suggested stepping in a nice coffee shop called "Vanessa's Cup of Java" to warm up before heading back home for supper.

Once they were seated, Hermione excused herself to go to the ladies lavatory. As she walked away, she could feel as if everyone's eyes were set on her but when she turned her head, it was Draco who was watching her with a small grin on his face. She thought his face look ridiculous and wished she could just slap it off. She stuck her tongue out at him.

While she checked her appearance in the mirror, of all the people who could have came into the bathroom, it had to be Marie. Hermione ignored her and continued to re-apply her lip-gloss; she had gotten into the habit of taking more care of her appearance lately for reasons unknown to her. Perhaps to maintain her lady-like image with the Denoyers. Marie leaned up against the sink beside Hermione, looking her from head to toe.

"I personally don't see what Drakey-poo sees in you. Do you have him under some mind control spell or something?" Marie asked in her annoying nails-on-a-chalkboard voice. She was chewing gum in such a fashion that she looked more like a half goat, half cow more then anything. Hermione half expected Marie to spit out the gum and then put in her mouth again. The sound of Marie's voice made Hermione cringe. She simply rolled her eyes at Marie.

"You have not spoken to me since you arrived and the first thing you tell me is the most childish and immature comment that I haven't heard in the longest time. It feels as if I'm back at Hogwarts, dealing with a teenage brat rather than grown woman" Hermione answered.

"You're such a bitch. Who do you think you are?" Marie curled her fingers to form a fist. Hermione sighed heavily, rolled her eyes again, and started to walk away.

"What, so you're just going to walk away from me now? You're just a little chickenshit." She was starting to get on Hermione's nerves and Hermione felt as if she was going to explode. Suddenly, Marie took hold of Hermione's hair and jerked her back, pulling her hair as if she was trying to rip it right off her scalp. This was the last straw.

Once Hermione had regained her balance, she swung a fist in Marie's facial direction, punching Marie on the nose bridge right between her eyes. Marie tumbled backwards in a toilet stall landing bottom-first into a toilet. Blood was dripping from her nose and she was throwing daggers at Hermione with her violet eyes. She tried to stand up but found herself having difficulties to do so. Her butt was wedged into the toilet bowl.

"You fucking bitch! I'm going to kill you!" she screamed, wailing her arms around her head and kicking her legs in midair. Hermione laughed, if only she had a camera. She walked out of the bathroom and stopped as she was out the door. A malicious and wonderful idea came to mind and a smile spread across her face. She took out her wand, pointed to the bathroom door and muttered a spell.

Within seconds, Marie was screaming bloody murder. The toilets were acting as if they had a mind of their own, flushing again and again, spraying water continuously in every direction. "_I've been around Draco too much" _Hermione thought before she walked away, grinning from ear to ear.

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Later that evening, while Hermione and Draco sat on his bed, Draco was on the verge of wetting his pants when Hermione told him exactly what had occurred in the bathroom earlier that day. Marie had explained that when she had gone to the washroom, and she was merely washing her hands when the toilets, "like totally went berserk", making her slip and fall, causing her nose to bleed. Her nose wasn't broken, just bruised.

Draco concluded that if she had told her parents what truly had happened and that she had confronted Hermione, insulting her, they would have insisted on going home the next day. As Draco wiped away the tears from his eyes, Hermione asked about the Christmas ball his uncle was hosting.

"I know that everyone is going to find out that you and I are engaged but we have to do our job. The Denoyers have been here almost a month and we haven't gotten any dirt on William" Draco said becoming serious all of a sudden. Hermione bit on her fingernail.

"It won't be that bad," Draco assured her. "Once this is all over, we can just say that the wedding is off and we wouldn't have to give any reasons why. It's not like it's anyone's business anyways." Hermione was still worried about the situation, but tried to rid her mind of having everyone in the wizarding world know that she, Hermione Granger was engaged to the Slytherin prince.

"You said that you and your cousin were on the front page of the Daily Prophet last year?" she asked, pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail.

"Yeah, KeeLee. She went to Hogwarts, she was in our year," Draco answered, laying back into the mountains of pillows. "She's a lot of fun, I think you'll like her. We've shared some good times, her and I". Hermione couldn't possibly picture Draco as the type of person to spend quality family time. "One year for New Year's, I think it was our fifth or sixth year, we got into her dad's alcohol cabinet, or the 'booze stash' as she called it, and got completely wasted. I ended up stripping and running around Uncle Thaddeus' manor at around three in the morning. We thought our parents had gone to bed, but we were so wrong."

"What happened?" Hermione was having the hardest time picturing Draco as the quality family time, getting-completely-wasted-and-streaking type of person. Who knew?

"I ran into breakfast nook, and they were all sitting there, chatting away. I tried to act as if nothing, but it doesn't work when you're drunk and falling over onto the coffee table. They were drinking decaffeinated coffee which spilled all over my…me and I ended up burning my…self." Hermione burst out laughing. Her laughter was soon muffled when Draco threw a pillow at her.

"Aw, Drakey-poo, don't be mad at me. I can't help it if you're telling me stories of you acting like a complete fool by burning your wee-wee" she said in fake, high pitched "sweet" voice as she threw the pillow back at Draco. He stood on the bed, towering over Hermione and started to whack the pillow over her head. She laughed and somehow managed to grab another pillow, trying to defend herself and hit him back at the same time.

Eventually, Hermione gave into a fit of giggles and Draco claimed himself victorious and fell back onto the bed, laying next her, their chests heaving and panting for air. He turned to face her and she to him; her face was completely flushed and her hair had come out of her ponytail and was hanging loosely around her face. She smiled as she tried to catch her breath.

He couldn't help but to notice her beautiful milk chocolate eyes again as she stared into his. Her plump lips were tempting to him with their rosy colour and softness. Before he could stop himself, he leaned in close to her and lightly brushed his lips against her, tasting for the briefest moment what seemed to be cinnamon.

As quickly as he had reacted, he sat up on the bed, realizing what he just done. She continued to lie on her side, blinking rapidly as if trying to recall what had just occurred.

"I'm so sorry, I-I don't know what got into me, I just-I'm sorry" he dithered as he jumped off the bed. For what seemed like an eternity, an awkward silence shadowed the room before Draco turned off the lights, said goodnight and went to lie on the couch.

**A/N: **Ta-dah! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry it took a few days to update but it's hard to find time with school and such. Bear with me! I haven't forgotten about the story. I'm so glad to hear that all reviewers so far really like the story! To my reviewers, you guys are the best, I truly love you all mwah.


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, just the story.

**Chapter 6**

The next morning, the harsh wind blowing up against the window could have woken up the dead. Hermione nuzzled her face into her pillow, refusing to admit she was awake. She was growing accustomed to not having to wake up early in the morning to go to work. She pulled the covers higher and curled into a ball, wishing that sleep would allow her to drift into a dream for at least ten minutes more.

Sighing deeply, Hermione opened her eyes lazily, stretching as she sat up in bed. She closed her eyes as she yawned and saw an image flash between her eyes, Draco. She brought her fingers to her lips, remembering the small kiss he had given her the night before. Draco Malfoy had _kissed_ her. She looked over to the couch on which he slept on, but he wasn't there. She listened for him, moving about in the washroom, but all was silent except for the wind that seemed to want to break through the glass.

The small clock beside the bed read 10:30. She forced herself out of bed and walked towards the bathroom. When Draco had kissed her, or rather, brushed his lips against hers, she felt something. Even though the kiss had only lasted less than a second, this feeling in her heart stayed with her the whole night.

She couldn't exactly explain to herself exactly what this feeling was, but it felt as if someone had electrocuted her and a small jolt of electricity ran through her body and into her chest. She convinced herself that it must have been the shock that he had kissed her. She remembered the last time anyone had kissed her.

It was Ron, the night before the wedding. She tried not to think about Ron, she had been thinking about him for almost four years now and thinking about him wasn't going to bring him back. She thought about the kiss again. It wasn't really much of a kiss, but something about it made her wish he could have kissed her more deeply and for reasons unknown to her, she wanted to kiss him again.

At the back of her mind, Hermione felt as if she had cheated Ron but nagged at herself for thinking such foolish things. Why on earth would she want to kiss Draco Malfoy of all people? "_He's a Malfoy, his blood and flesh," _she thought to herself. She repeated these words over and over in her head until she made herself think that she did not want to kiss him again; that he was repulsive, arrogant prat and she should focus more on her job.

She didn't see Draco until later that evening at dinner. He explained that he had gone out shopping with William. Hermione refused to mutter a single word to Draco after dinner, and went straight to bed, pretending she was asleep. It was a nightly ritual that Draco would come lay next to her on the bed and they would talk for hours on end, late into the night. But she did not want to talk to him. In reality she was afraid that he may kiss her again, but even more afraid of how she would react.

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A couple of weeks passed, and nothing was ever mentioned about the kiss that Draco and Hermione had shared. Draco couldn't explain to himself why he had done it and pondered much about it several nights when he couldn't bring himself to sleep. Hermione ignored Draco most of the time the first few days after they had kissed, feeling angry with him for doing something so imprudent. What was he thinking? Draco noticed this but couldn't help but to feel saddened at the fact that she barely spoke a word to him when the Denoyers were not present.

During the first month that Hermione had been at the manor, Draco started to enjoy Hermione's company. She seemed to loosen up, perhaps because she was now able to sleep in everyday of the week, but she seemed in better moods and not too short-tempered with Draco. At least she didn't throw anything at him or push him into the pool.

Although he hated to admit it, he missed the conversations they would have late at night, making fun of Marie or discussing anything William said that could have been linked to Death Eater involvement, or just simply chatting away. In the end, Draco admitted to himself that he missed Hermione Granger. She had started to open up to him and had begun to develop a friendly relationship, and he had gone and ruined it. Maybe he really was a prat.

For some inexplicable reason, Draco thought much about the brief kiss he had given Hermione. She had tasted like cinnamon and he had difficulty ridding his mind about Hermione and the idea of kissing her again just to taste her lips once more. He tried to think about how much she reminded him of Professor McGonagull but that idea failed every time she would descend the stairs, looking more beautiful than the day before or even earlier that very day.

The silent treatment was killing him. Although he had tried to avoid admitting to it, one day it just came and hit him. He was developing a crush on Hermione Granger. The way it sounded in his head seemed extremely childish and he refused to accept the fact that a twenty-three year old man could be acting so juvenile by saying he had a "crush" on someone.

The weekend before Christmas came announcing the weekend of the Kingston Christmas Ball. Although she still felt slightly cross with Draco, Hermione was starting to forgive him and tried to lighten her spirits for the Christmas season. The Denoyers', Mafoy's and Hermione were to stay at the Kingston Manor the night of the ball and the following day. Hermione, Draco, and the others stood in front of one of the many fireplaces in the Malfoy Manor, ready to travel to the Kingston Manor using floo powder.

Hermione and Draco were to travel together simply because, they were "engaged". They were supposed to do _everything_ together according to Narcissa. Draco stepped into the fireplace with Hermione, taking her hand in his. This small contact of skin sent shivers down Hermione's spine. There must have been a draft somewhere.

When they stumbled onto the floor of Kingston Manor, the first thing that Hermione and Draco heard was a high pitched squeal screaming, "DRACO! YOU'RE HERE!" A young woman came running up to Draco and embraced him in a warm and loving hug that caused Draco to stagger backwards. After the shock had passed, he had lifted her off the ground, he being quite tall and swung her around. Hermione felt a slight twinge of jealousy. "_Wait, what? Jealousy?"_

"Hello KeeLee, nice to see you too," Draco managed to muffle through her shoulder. After she had let go, Draco took Hermione's hand once more and said to KeeLee, "This is Hermione, my fiancé for the time being. I'm sure you recall from the letter I sent you about a month ago?" KeeLee looked at Hermione.

She could have easily passed off as Draco's twin sister. She had sleek bleach blond hair that went passed her shoulders that she had tied back in a loose ponytail and pale skin, just like Draco. It amazed Hermione how much KeeLee resembled Draco expect for the eyes, they were a piercing blue-green colour and well, the fact that she was a girl. She wore casual black dress pants and a lilac one shoulder strap tank top that said "PRADA" in black lettering. She was an attractive young woman, curvaceous and could have easily knocked someone out with her breasts when she turned to face them.

"Hello," KeeLee said, embracing Hermione in a welcoming hug. "I don't see how Draco could have convinced you to pass off as his fiancé, you're much too pretty for _him_." KeeLee turned to her cousin again, who wore a sour expression on his face. She stuck out her tongue again and invited them to sit while they waited for the others.

As they waited, several house elves entered the room, carrying tea and biscuits. Hermione examined the room. It was just as elegant as the Malfoy Manor. The walls in this room were painted a burgundy colour, which were covered in portraits of family members. There was also a family tree hung on the wall, the Malfoy's had a similar one in their home too.

The room was decorated with French inspired mahogany furniture and wine-red velvet couches. It was extremely luxurious. In a matter of minutes, the others arrived with Marie being the last. She had stumbled onto the floor, landing with her bum in the air giving everyone in the room a peek up her skirt. KeeLee greeted everyone warmly, attacking Narcissa in a similar fashion to that in which she attacked Draco. Once she had seated everyone and offered them tea and biscuits, Thaddeus appeared.

He was the male version of Narcissa. You could say you were looking at Narcissa only she was wearing pants, no breasts and had short hair. He was a man of about forty or so, being a couple of years older than his sister. He had a stern look on his face, but greeted everyone cordially, including Hermione. He stood tall and proud and wore a midnight-blue suit, white shirt and matching blue and white tie. High fashion and proper appearance seemed to run in everyone in Draco's family.

The ball was to commence in about two hours and Hermione could see the house elves scurrying about outside the room, adding finishing touches to the decorations and doing some last minute cleaning.

"Daddy, I'm going to take Hermione away to dress for the ball. I want to spend some quality time with her" KeeLee said, linking her arm in Hermione's. Thaddeus nodded, and KeeLee walked away with Hermione.

As they walked down the hall, Hermione saw that the Kingston Manor was, if possible, much larger than the Malfoy Manor. The hallways seemed endless and there was a massive spiral staircase that spilt into two mid-way. KeeLee lead Hermione to what she assumed was KeeLee's room.

The room was a complete contrast with the rest of the house, which slightly shocked Hermione when she entered. The room had a gothic twist to it, decorated with red and black décor. The walls were still painted a burgundy colour but the room had it's own atmosphere. There was an enormous deep chocolate four-poster bed with a sheer black canopy overhead with red and black silk bedding. A dresser and vanity matching the bed set were placed adjacent to the bed. A black fur rug lay in the middle of the room, which was surrounded by red velvet chairs and a large bookshelf against the wall. A large window faced the city of Birmingham and was shaded by black and red drapes.

Beside the bed was a night table on each side. One of them had pictures of family. Hermione spotted a picture of KeeLee and Draco on the back of horses. The pictures waved and smiled at Hermione while the horses kicked at the ground. There was another of KeeLee and Thaddeus and a single frame that held a picture of an attractive brunette.

"My mother," KeeLee said. "She passed away when I was very young."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that" Hermione said, stepping away from the pictures. She had just noticed that there were a couple of house elves running about KeeLee's room, laying a couple of dresses on the bed and shoes on the floor. She noticed that one of them was Wanda.

"Don't worry about it," KeeLee waved her hand about, sitting in front of her mirror. "So, has Draco caused you any trouble while you're staying at his house? I know he can be a real pain sometimes." Hermione laughed and a memory of the small kiss came to mind.

"Surprisingly, not really. He's been quite nice, nicer than he had ever been at school at least."

"Well, if he bothers you, let me know and I'll give him a good duffing up." Hermione laughed again.

"I actually remember you from school. You were friends with Harry Potter, weren't you?"

"Yeah, we were good friends, we still are. Did you know him?"

"We talked, yeah. We uh, stayed in contact after Hogwarts. I invited him to the ball." Suddenly, it came to Hermione where she had heard the name Kingston. Of course! How could she have forgotten? During their seventh year, there was a rumour going about that Harry had hooked up with a Slytherin, some girl by the name of _Kingston_. Harry denied this to everyone but admitted to Hermione and Ron that the rumours were true. By what Harry had told Hermione, they had done more than just "talked".

Nothing else was mentioned about Harry, and the girl's passed their time getting ready by talking about Draco with KeeLee telling Hermione stories of Draco more embarrassing moments. It took them almost the full two hours to finish getting ready, and the doorbell rang several times, announcing the arrival of the first guests.

Draco came to knock on KeeLee's door. He walked in and said, "KeeLee, why the hell is Potter here? He claims he's looking for you. I want an expla-" He stopped at mid sentence. "Hermione, you look…stunning." Hermione wore a dark green elegant tube-top dress that exposed her back all the way down to her tailbone. The dress would have completely covered her feet if she had not worn heels. Her hair was styled into loose wavy tresses, with an emerald butterfly, studded with diamonds hair clip placed neatly on her hair. Draco was completely dumbfounded.

Harry's head appeared behind the door, looking around. He spotted Hermione, and came over to her, greeting her with a warm hug.

"Geez 'Mione. Who knew you had in you?" he said. He turned to face KeeLee, who was wearing a red silk spaghetti-strap knee-length dress and red stilettos. The back of the dress had a criss-cross design and exposed a Celtic heart on her left shoulder blade. He smiled at her, not the way he smiled at Hermione, but rather a more loving smile; similar to the one Ron would give Hermione when he was about to kiss her.

Hermione noticed that KeeLee wore a small delicate diamond ring on a golden chain around her neck. KeeLee noticed Hermione looking at the ring, and clutched it tightly in her hand. Draco seemed annoyed with being in the same room with Harry longer than ten seconds that he offered Hermione his arm and lead her out of the room in a hurry.

"Maybe I shouldn't have left them alone in there," Draco said, looking back at the room. Hermione urged him to continue on their way. She had a feeling that Harry would have some explaining to do later on. They descended the stairs, and walked down the endless hallway to the ballroom. As they walked, Draco was the first to speak.

"You look absolutely gorgeous Hermione."

"Thanks," she answered.

"I've been meaning to apologize for…well, my actions from a couple weeks back. I really don't know what got into me"

"Don't worry about it, it was simply a mistake. Perhaps you thought I was someone else, one of your girlfriends or something."

"No, it wasn't that. I-" He stopped. They arrived at the doors of the ballroom and he turned to face her.

"Draco, really, it's ok. I'm sure that it won't happen again. Now, let's proceed into the ballroom. I haven't been to a party in a while and I can't wait to enjoy myself tonight." Hermione surprised herself what she did after that. She lightly kissed Draco on the cheek and smiled at him and linked their arms together. The doors to the ballroom opened and they proceeded onwards.

**A/N: **Yay! How do you like them apples? Ok, that was corny but don't mind me. Well, there you go. Did you like it? Hate it? Whatever! I hope you enjoyed it. I was to give a huge thanks to my reviewers! You guys are the best, and as always, I love you all mwah. Remember to click that review button! So sorry for the long wait...the site wasn't working, but not to worry, I have updated! Alright, again, thanks for your reviews! You all deserve a cookie! Also, my friend BeccaBear89 has just recently uploaded her first fanfic! Look for "Three Beating Hearts" so you can R&R! Thanks, love you all.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, just the story. Don't sue me!

**Chapter 7**

Hermione blinked several times, trying to adjust to the flashes of light coming from every angle. Obviously, photographers had been waiting for Draco Malfoy's entrance. Draco just casually walked onwards, looking straight ahead with his nose high in the air like the person he was; a Malfoy. He clearly was used to this or he was just prone to blinding lights.

Hermione gasped slightly inwards, taking in the beauty and splendor of the ball. The theme must have been a Christmas wonderland or someone who was just simply obsessed with white. There were at least a dozen or more enormous evergreen trees spread throughout the ballroom. They were completely white, giving the feeling of a fresh snowfall, and decorated with elegant ornaments of all sizes. Large ice sculptors resembling snowmen and reindeer were placed in the middle of the hors d'oeuvre table, glistening wherever the light reflected on them, giving the eerie sensation that there alive and moving. Hermione could have sworn a snowman winked at her. Christmas decorations of all sorts hung from the ceilings and the walls. Musicians played a variety of classic Christmas carols along with classical music by Mozart, Beethoven, and others. There were several people already enjoying themselves, laughing and chatting away as others continued to arrive.

As Draco and Hermione walked, with Hermione's hand placed neatly on Draco's arm, Hermione could feel the hundreds of beady eyes, staring at her from head to toe. She spotted Marie at one point, standing with who Hermione presumed were some of her friends. She wore a short sparkly, red tube top dress, or rather, "boob tube" as Draco pointed out. The dress was slightly longer than the majority of Marie's clothing; it covered at least two inches more of herself than usual. She wore a small black, fur wrap, just to barely cover her bare shoulders. Hermione knew that Marie was talking about her, considering that the group of Marie's friends was now glaring at Hermione, criticizing every aspect about her, much like Marie.

"Don't look at them," Draco said in a low voice. "They are not worth your time and energy. Just look straight ahead and smile. I'm sure people will fall in love with your smile."

"Why do you say that?" Hermione wanted to know, teasingly. "Do you say that from personal experience, _Drakey_?" She smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes at Draco. He looked her, showing off his famous smirk and said nothing. Harry and KeeLee came in about a minute later; they seemed to glow with enthusiasm and…love?

Draco and Hermione walked around for several minutes, with Draco greeting the majority of the guests and introducing Hermione. Hermione had never been complimented so much in one sitting, she was afraid she would start to blush. At one point, Thaddeus announced that dinner was served and everyone proceeded to the adjoining dinning room.

The dining room was decorated just as spectacularly as the ballroom. It was just as massive as the ballroom was, only that it seemed more compact with the numbers of rectangular tables and chairs. Ice sculptors slightly smaller than the ones in the ballroom, were placed in the middle of the tables among with the tremendous amount of food. There were foods of every kind. Turkey, chicken, roast beef, potatoes, cranberry sauce, simply everything you could think of. Thaddeus sat at the head table, with Narcissa at his right hand side, and KeeLee on his left. Draco pulled a chair for Hermione, beside Narcissa and seated himself beside her. Harry, along with the Denoyers' sat at the head table; only the guests of honour sat with the host.

Hermione could not help but to notice how Harry and KeeLee seemed to flirt with their eyes from across the table during dinner. Hermione's suspicions grew more and more. Marie did not speak one word to Hermione, but then again, why would she? She spent the entire time goggling at Draco and laughing hysterically at everything he said. Apparently, she was trying to prove she was worthier and more lady-like than Hermione. It was quite difficult to believe when she snorted wine from her nose, laughing like a loon when Draco said the word "titillate".

Eventually, dinner ended and on came the desserts. Just as the main course had been, there were a variety of dessert dishes, each one exquisite and tempting. Hermione noticed that Harry went directly for the pumpkin pie as if he had not eaten the whole night. He mentioned how the scent of pumpkin pie drove him crazy.

"It's just so hard to resist the wonderful tingling sensation I get in my pa-". Harry stopped, realizing what he was about to say, turning pale.

"In your _pants_ Potter, there's no way you can maneuver around that," Marie said, shoving a truffle in her mouth. "Everyone knows that pumpkin pie is like an aphrodisiac." Harry went from pale as a ghost to a bright red tomato. An awkward silence gloomed over the head table for several seconds until Thaddeus and William started to laugh.

"Come, come. Let us not be so serious!" Thaddeus chuckled.

"Think about that now we have some dirt on the infamous Harry Potter, the boy, or rather, the man now, who defeated the Dark Lord," William spoke. He spoke in an almost forced cheery voice, smiling between his teeth. Hermione and Draco glanced at each other, nodding, understanding that they would discuss that later.

Dinner ended, and several guests were already filing back into the ballroom, perhaps to dance or to talk more about who was richer and snobbier. Harry was the first to stand from the head table, excusing himself to take a tinkle, or so Marie decided she should have pointed out after he left.

"Excuse me," he said, glancing at KeeLee as he did. "I need to go to the loo." He stood hesitatingly, glancing at KeeLee once again; she seemed confused.

"Ahem, yes, please excuse me" he said again, apparently no one had heard him, or so he thought. "I'm going to the _lavatory_."

"Very well Mr. Potter, we shall see you again in the ballroom," Thaddeus said. Harry walked away, and Hermione noticed that a look of realization spread across KeeLee's pretty face. The others seated at the head table started to stand and head back to the ballroom, and Draco gently took Hermione's hand and placed it on the familiar spot on his arm. Something about the small contact of skin made Draco's heart beat faster as if it was ready to jump right out of his chest. _Stupid having a crush thing_ he thought. As they proceeded to the ballroom, Hermione turned her head to ask KeeLee something, but she was nowhere to be found.

Draco led Hermione to the middle of the room, stopping to face her.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"Pretty good. I can't get over on how beautiful this place is." Hermione could not help but to admire how formal and gorgeous Draco looked in his black suit. She had almost said how beautiful _he_ looked. He stood perfectly straight, with both of his hands behind his back. If only she had known he was fidgeting as if his fingers were about to fall off.

"Hermione, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," Draco started. She looked attentively into his eyes. Although she hated to admit it, she loved his eyes.

"I've done some thinking but I still haven't drawn a clear conclusion. I know this might seem too rash but-"

"Mr. Malfoy!" A redheaded teenage boy with a camera, wearing a dark blue suit, and a tag that said "KYLE: DAILY PROPHET PHOTOGRAPHER", approached the couple, interrupting Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, why don't you give the lovely lady a kiss? You're standing right underneath the mistletoe." Both Hermione and Draco looked straight up above them. Indeed, there it was, with its red ribbon and small berries.

"Gladly," Draco responded. Hermione looked back at Draco. He was smiling. _Oh holy hell._

He approached her slowly, wrapping his arms around her waist. He could almost taste the cinnamon. Her eyes widen but surprised herself when she placed her hands lightly on Draco's broad shoulders, urging him to kiss her. He smiled at her once again, bent down, turned his neck and gently placed his lips on hers.

The kiss wasn't like the previous one he had given her before; something was different. It was full lip-on-lip contact and he could definitely taste the cinnamon. It was the gum she was chewing. The moment his lips were in contact with hers, Hermione, if possible, widened her eyes even more but relaxed and slowly closed her eyes. Why was this so relaxing? She should not be enjoying it that much, should she?

But at that moment, she did not care about her feelings about Draco, all she cared about was that he was kissing her, again, and it wished that time would stand still. It seemed like an eternity, but Draco finally pulled away, nibbling softly on her bottom lip. Draco looked deeply into Hermione's milk chocolate eyes, and reality found itself back in Hermione's mind. She looked around, noticing the several photographers, taking pictures of them. Grand. All the headlines in the papers tomorrow would read "WEDDING BELLS RING CLOSER AS DRACO MALFOY PLACES A KISS ON HOT FIANCE"

Hermione lifted her hands off of Draco's shoulders, excusing herself to the washroom. She really did not need to go to the washroom; she did not even known where one was. Instead, she walked aimlessly around the manor, trying to clear her mind. The familiar electric shock and squeezing sensation in her heart once again found itself inside Hermione. What was wrong with her? Why was it that every time Draco was near her, touched her, and now, every time _kissed _her, her heart would beat faster? Why was he constantly in her thoughts, so far to the extent that she would dream about him, sometimes, dreaming about things that were unmentionable? She had sworn that when Ron died, her heart had broke, and it could never be mended, by anything, or anyone.

She asked these questions to herself over and over again, desperately trying to find an answer. The annoying voice at the back of her mind said that she knew the answer perfectly well, but Hermione refused to listen. She was NOT developing _those_ kinds of feelings for a Malfoy of all people.

She stopped to lean up against a wall; staring up at the ceiling as if it was to give her a better answer than the one the back of her mind was giving her. She closed her eyes, sighing deeply. She heard a rustle of moment behind the wall. Since when did walls make noises? She turned her head and noticed a door beside her. She moved closer to it, putting her ear to the door. She could hear the rustling clearly now, and hesitated as she turned the knob and pushed the door. Once she opened the door, she turned a feverish shade of red, gasping so hard, she was afraid she was going to hyperventilate. It was a broom closet and the sight before confirmed all her suspicions.

Harry was completely disheveled, with his hair sticking up more than it already was. His lips were red and swollen and his shirt was unbuttoned, exposing a trail of love bites down his muscular chest. And he wore no pants. KeeLee sat on top of Harry with her arms and legs wrapped around him and a hand running through his hair; her dress lay abandoned on the floor along with Harry's pants and other unmentionables. His hands were clamped around her bum-oley. Their heads twirled around in complete shock at the sound of the opening of the door and completely froze. No one said anything for about two minutes, with only the sound of Harry's and KeeLee's rapid breathing until Harry spoke up.

"I, uh, got pumpkin pie on my…shirt" he said.

"And I was licking it off," KeeLee added, completely calm. Harry looked at, shooting an are-you-frikin-serious look. "That just sounds worse babe,"

"Oh," KeeLee leaned over to close the door, flashing Hermione as she did.

"We'll explain later 'Mione. Please don't tell," Harry managed to say before the door closed.

Hermione was left standing in absolute disbelief. She brought a hand to her chest, feeling her heart beat faster due to the shock she had given herself.

"Hermione," a familiar voice called, making Hermione jump. Draco approached her and Hermione stood in front of the door. She did not want to even start to imagine what Draco would do if he saw what she had just witnessed. "Where were you? I've been looking for you for about five minutes."

Not knowing what to do, Hermione simply smiled.

"I was looking for the lavatory and I got lost," she responded. She linked her arm in Draco's. "But now you've found me, let's go back to the ball." Draco looked at her questioningly as they started to walk down the hall. As they walked, something fell in the broom closet, causing Draco to stop dead in his tracks and Hermione's heart to skip a beat. He turned his head around.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, probably a mouse, let's go." Draco started to walk towards the closet door, causing Hermione to begin to panic.

"Draco please, trust me. I want to go back to the ball. I was enjoying myself so much and the night is almost over." She looked pleadingly at him. She knew in fact that the night was not almost over, they had about two or three hours left before the guests would begin to leave. Draco looked back and forth at her and down the hall towards the closet, frowned, and walked back towards Hermione.

"You're hiding something from me," he said as they made their way back to the ballroom.

"I think everyone is hiding something Drakey-poo."


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, all the characters and such belong to the talented J.K. Rowling (except for the story!)

**Chapter 8**

"Son of a bitch. Who does he think he is, marrying a mudblood whore?" Lucius Malfoy cursed as he threw a copy of the Daily Prophet across his prison cell, causing a group of spiders to scamper in different directions. "What else could he possibly do to soil the Malfoy name? He might as well become a man whore on the street corner, giving blow jobs for free."

If anyone had seen him on the street, no one would have recognized him as the notorious Lucius Malfoy. He was now, if possible, even more pale and his graying hair was plastered on his head. His face was no longer the one that once was full of pride and vain. His eyes were two piercing blocks of cold ice, ferocious and dangerous. It was almost as if his very soul was sucked right out of his body, only living the lifeless corpse behind with a couple blocks of ice. Life at Azkaban prison was giving Lucius what he deserved.

A woman completely dressed in black, with a black veil over her face sat on the only chair in the cell in a dark corner, her hands folded neatly on her lap

"Mudblood?" the veiled woman asked.

"Of course. That whore is Harry Potter's friend. Hermione Granger, a mudblood, the scum that unfortunately walks on this earth," Lucius answered, lighting a cigarette, throwing the lit match at the spiders. One caught on fire, incinerated and died on the spot. He smiled evilly, sending chills down the veiled woman's spine.

"What is your plan?" the woman asked again.

Lucius paced the cell, puffing smoke from the cigarette.

"That traitor must pay. I will not have a Malfoy running about, spoiling my name even more. He already brought shame to the Malfoy honour when he turned against the Dark Lord. That mudblood whore must go and then, and then he must die." Lucius walked towards the woman, kneeling down in front of her.

"I want you to keep him and his whore under surveillance."

"Of course. I will not betray you."

"Excellent." He raised the woman's veil, caressing her face with the back of his hand. She looked at him lovingly, and he pulled her closer to him, embracing her in a harsh kiss.

"I have missed you my love. Do not fail me."

**A/N: **Ooh! Sorry for the long update, I've been too busy with school and such and didn't have time to update. But see what I did? _Two_ chapters! Thanks to everyone for your reviews, you guys are the BEST!! Don't forget to hit that review button.


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I wish had an imagination like J.K. Rowling so I could say that I own everything. But unfortunately, I am not, meaning, I own nothing (except the story). Please don't sue!

**Chapter 9**

As predicted, every newspaper in the wizarding world had printed a story about the Kingston Christmas Ball, and every one talked about Draco Malfoy's "engagement" to Hermione Granger. The Daily Prophet had a picture of Draco and Hermione snogging underneath the mistletoe. Lovely.

Draco awoke that morning, without feeling in his left arm. He opened his eyes, realized that he was not home, and saw Hermione, for the second time, snuggled up against him. _Opps. _Hermione and him had talked late into the night about William, the ball, and other things. They had fallen asleep and did not realize that Hermione would end up in Draco's arms yet again. He was only grateful that he woke up before she did this time. The last time the snuggling incident happened, Draco could not sit for a week on his left bum cheek.

Draco drew his attention to the small Victorian style clock ticking away on the bedside table. It read 7:30. He carefully pushed Hermione off to the other side of the bed, afraid that he had woken her when she started to move. He froze, but released a sigh of relief when she only positioned herself in a comfortable position, hugging her pillow. A lock of brown hair lay on top of her face as she breathed deeply and soundly, without a care in the world. Draco lightly pushed the stubborn strand of hair behind her ear, stroking her smooth face. She smiled into the pillow, fluttering her eyes as she opened them slowly.

"Damn you Draco, I was having a good dream," she muffled through the pillow.

"I noticed. Just thought I should annoy you. You know, it's my thing to do stuff like that." But Hermione did not hear; she had fallen back to sleep. He walked carefully to the bathroom, not wanting to awake Hermione again, and stepped into the shower.

He had kissed her last night, a real kiss. She had looked gorgeous, beyond recognition. He had considered telling Hermione that he had strong feelings towards her. It sounded better than saying he had a "crush" on her. He did not know why he wanted to tell her, he just thought it was the right thing to do. But now that he had slept on it, he thought against it. If he were to tell her he had a "crush" on her, she would probably laugh in his face and call him a lying prat. Since when did he start liking Hermione, in _that_ way anyways? Did he not always dislike her in school, constantly tease her and annoy her? Was it really worth it?

Draco stepped out of the shower, wrapping a red towel around his waist as he walked in the bedroom again. He stopped dead in his tracks when his silver eyes made contact with violet ones.

"'Morning Drakey-poo," Marie said "seductively". "Were you thinking about me a lot last night? I sure was." She licked her lips as she said this. She wore a black skimpy see-through nightie, adorned with pink satin. It put emphasize on her breasty area; they were practically popping out.

"What do you want Marie? Who let you in?" Draco asked annoyingly, pushing Marie to the side as he walked over to his clothes.

"Why, I did love. Who else?" Marie followed him, pulling a strap of her nightie so it fell off her shoulder.

"Well get out. You have your own room. And put on some clothes or something. Haven't you ever heard of a shirt or pants? Yeah, those fake twins there, you're not supposed to be able to see them." Marie approached Draco, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Always the joker Drakey-poo. Don't you miss me?" She trailed a manicured fingernail down Draco's chest, trailing dangerously in places where the sun doesn't shine. "Don't you remember all those times we fucked?" She grabbed hold of his member. "Wasn't it fun? Why don't I help you remember _Draco?_"

"Don't touch me," Draco pushed Marie aside. "All those times were mistakes. If I had known you were such a whore, I would have never slept with you. Now get out." He took her by the arm, pushing her out of the bedroom, locking the door as he did.

"I am disappointed in you Malfoy. I did not think you would lower yourself so deeply as to sleep with someone like _her_." Draco spun around. Hermione sat crossed legged, sitting perfectly straight, hugging a pillow, and looking directly at Draco. Draco stood dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

"Well, I-" he started.

"Don't bother," Hermione interrupted, waving her hand aimlessly as she jumped off the bed and headed towards the bathroom. "You're just typical; trying to screw as many girls as possible without a commitment, living the life of a man whore." Draco smirked.

"Be careful _Hermione_, I might start to think that you are _jealous_." Hermione turned around, shooting daggers at Draco.

"_Jealous? ME? _Of what exactly? That is completely preposterous! Why in bloody hell would I be jealous? And of _her _of all people?"

"I do not know, you're the one who is getting all worked up." Draco crossed his arms and wore a smug expression on his face. "Maybe you like me more than you think."

"You are such an insufferable prat!"

"Ah, you don't deny it. You _do _like me, maybe even love me." Hermione fingered Draco before she stormed off into the washroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Good morning to you too love," he called out after her. He chuckled. It was going to be a good day.



Hermione had spent the majority of the afternoon out shopping with KeeLee and her friends. Draco had avoided being around them with KeeLee's friends, trying to stay away from a couple of her friends that he had a certain, intimate history with. Maybe Hermione was right; he was a man whore. At the same time, he tried avoiding Marie, running in the opposite direction whenever she walked down a hall. He could not understand why she wore mini skirts in the middle of winter.

Draco walked down the halls, observing the various paintings and portraits hung up on the wall. He heard someone speaking in one of the rooms, realizing that he had been walking down the guest's corridor. He approached the door slowly, peaking in through the crack where the door was slightly open. He saw William and his mother conversing in low voices. He could not make out what they were talking about but his heart skipped a beat when he heard "Lucius".

Narcissa suddenly brought her hands to her face as her shoulders heaved up and down. William approached her, taking her in his arms, stroking her hair and whispering, "Shh, it will be alright." William lifted her chin with his finger, bringing her face to meet with his. William whispered in a low voice something to Narcissa that Draco could not make out. He stroked her face with the back of his hand as she looked deeply into his eyes. Draco had never seen his mother look at a man this way. William lowered his face, bringing his lips to Narcissa's, kissing her in a loving and gentle way. Draco's jaw dropped open; he was afraid that he was going to drool all over his new shoes.

Narcissa parted from the kiss, bringing a hand to her lips, eyes full of shock and surprise. Her and William said nothing to each other, but rather, she made her way to the door. _Damn!_ Draco looked frantically for a place to hide, choosing a large vase beside the bedroom entrance. He hid behind the vase, watching his mother walk away. William came out seconds later, heading in Draco's direction. Panicking, Draco moved behind the vase in the opposite direction, not wanting to be seen by William. He was able to breath again once William was around the corner. _What the hell was that about?_

"Dancing with vases are we now Draco?" Draco spun around, recognizing KeeLee's voice, and hitting his head on candelabra attached to the wall, cursing as he did so. Clutching his forehead, and after blinking several times, he saw that KeeLee, Hermione, and Co. had returned from their day of shopping, their hands full of bags and packages from various shops. Hermione rushed over to Draco, placing her newly bought items on the ground, while the others were dieing of laughter.

"Draco, are you alright?" She touched his face ever so slightly, her eyes filled with worry and concern. Her hands were cold and her face was flushed from the cold air outside. Smiling, Draco took her hand, kissed it and replied, "Perfect, now that you're here love." She blushed. The laughter died down as the girls wiped tears from their eyes, not wanting to have their mascara run.

"Draco, you remember my friends don't you?" KeeLee said, motioning her hand to the group of girls. Draco gulped. "Well, I'll introduce them again. This is Arlene," she pointed to the pretty brunette with a purple coat. "Brianne, (cute petite blond; she waved at Draco in a flirtatious way, winking at him as she did), Catherine (red-head who looked awfully familiar), Cindy (blond who wore a coat that said "JESUS LOVES ME" on the back), Aryn (another blond that was singing carols to herself), Sarah (strawberry blond who gave a polite smile before turning her attention to her iPod again), and finally, Meghan (curly hair punk-rocker chick who jerked her head slightly and said "sup")."

Draco smiled at each of them, starting to remember seeing these girls whenever he would pay a visit to KeeLee. He remembered Catherine; they had a…history. He noticed that she wore an engagement ring; he smiled at the thought, she deserved to be happy.

"Yes, well, it was nice seeing you all again, but Hermione and I must be off. We have to discuss some things, wedding plans and such. You know, what all engaged couples do." Draco started laughing uncontrollably, and all the girls looked at each other, wondering if Draco had completely lost his mind. He took hold of Hermione's purchases and left in the opposite direction, Hermione trailing beside him.

"Draco? Are you sure you are okay? You hit your head quite hard," Hermione asked, with a smile slowly curling around her lips. Draco said nothing, he was still in a state of shock.

They entered their bedroom, and Draco locked the door behind Hermione. He leaned up against the door, and sighed heavily. Hermione walked over to Draco, bit her lip, and slowly took his face in her hands. Draco could feel her shaking.

"Draco, tell me what's wrong. Did you discover something unnerving dealing with our mission?" Draco looked into Hermione's eyes; they were filled with concern. Maybe she actually cared. He took one of her hands and gently kissed her palm.

"I will tell you later love, here the walls may have ears," Draco answered.

"Why do you call me that Draco?" Draco stood still clutching Hermione's hand in his.

"Call you what?"

"Love. There's no one here to make believe you love me." There was a silence between the two of them, with both Hermione and Draco starring into each other's eyes, searching for an answer. Hermione gasped slightly, her free hand covering her mouth. Draco smiled at her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Surprisingly, she did not spit in his face or pull away. He leaned in closer to her face, the scent of cinnamon tickling his nose.

Hermione's heart was pounding. It felt as if it was ready to burst from her chest. A million of questions raced through Hermione's head. What was going on? Something inside of her burned, she wanted to kiss Draco again, taste him again, but why? She had not felt this way before and was she actually going to allow Draco to kiss her again, even with no one there? Why did he want to kiss her anyways?

"Hermione," Draco's lips were inches from hers. The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine. She soon found her arms wrapped around his neck. They moved slowly towards the bed. Draco looked into Hermione's eyes. She could see warmth inside his silvery eyes. Her heart beat faster. They fell onto the bed and Hermione could feel Draco's heart against hers; it was beating just as fast or even faster.

He stroked her face, looking lovingly into her eyes. He moved hesitatingly towards Hermione's lips. He looked at her once more, Hermione's eyes widened and Draco embraced her into a passionate kiss.

**A/N: **Merry Christmas! I'm so sorry for the long update. I've been so busy with school! With diploma's coming up, it's been crazy. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I hope everyone has a very safe and joyful holiday. Remember to hit that review button!


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **Nothing is mine with the exception of the story.

**Chapter 10 **

Draco slept with his muscular back and broad shoulders facing upwards, sprawled on the bed with a bed sheet slightly covering his lower back. Hermione sat next to him, fully awake, watching his body slowly raise and fall in succession, watching as he dreamt peacefully. She had sat in the same position for the last hour, unbelieving on what had occurred. She wrapped a bed sheet around her naked body, still trying to fit all the pieces together. She looked around the room and saw where their clothes and knickers laid abandoned on the floor. A single tear ran down her cheek as she lowered her head to rest onto her knees. _What have I done?_

She could not remember how or why, or even when she stopped thinking logically and gave in to his affectionate actions. Hermione closed her eyes and she remembered how his hands had run along her entire body, sending shivers down her spine, remembering all the wonderful sensations she had felt. She remembered how she let her heart take over where her mind should have told her to stop. He had asked her if it what was she wanted, if she was sure that she wanted to go through with it. Why did she say yes? The small kisses he gave her on her collarbone, the way he said her name…it was all too much. He said he loved her. She could remember it perfectly. When it was over, he had looked deeply into her eyes and whispered those three little words before kissing her and collapsing into a deep sleep beside her.

_But why? _She looked up at him again. She had never given herself to anyone before; he had been her first. But why of all people, had she handed over her virginity to the offspring of the man who ruined her future? _I'm so sorry Ron. _Hermione felt as if somehow she betrayed Ron, by not falling for someone who actually meant more to her. She watched Draco as he slept like a beautiful baby, without a care in the world while she sat there in agony and remorse. More tears made their way down her cheeks, staining her porcelain skin. She started to cry harder, allowing for her emotions to take over her, not caring who heard her. Draco began to wake beside her, but she did not care. She didn't care about anything anymore.

From a distance, Draco could hear a faint sound, as if it were a woman crying. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking as his eyes readjusted to the light. He looked up and saw Hermione with her head down, sitting on the bed, with a bed sheet covering her body as she tightly clutched her legs. Her shoulders heaved up and down in unison as she cried. He sat up, moving closer to her. He raised his hand to touch her, but she violently moved her shoulder away from his grasp.

"Don't touch me," she said between her teeth. "What do you want anyways? Want to give it another go you fucking asshole."

"Hermione, love," Draco started, shocked by the sudden outburst. She looked up at him, her eyes full of anger and hatred.

"I told you not to call me that Malfoy."

"But Hermione, I-"

"I hate you, do you understand! I hate you! I've always hated you just like you've always hated me. You make me sick!" She began to cry even harder. Glaring at him, hating the stupid expression he wore which reminded her too much of a goldfish, she stood up with the bed sheets covering her body and ran to the washroom, slamming the door behind her.

Draco sat dumbfounded, starring at the bathroom door. He could hear Hermione weeping away, as if all the pain and regret she was feeling would flow out of her through her tears. This was not supposed to happen. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her cry and feel the way she was feeling. But he was so sure she was willing to go through with it, she had said yes and did not even stop him at the beginning. He would have never gone through with it if she sincerely did not want to. But the way she responded to his actions, they seemed so real, as if she truly wanted it. Perhaps he had misunderstood. _Shit._

Hermione sat in the corner of the washroom, rocking back and forth, clutching tightly onto her legs. Her nails dug deeply into her skin, but the pain it caused her was nothing of the sort she was feeling deep inside. She felt dirty, used. She stood up slowly, making her way to the shower, dragging her feet behind her. As she steeped into the shower, she shivered as the water ran down her back, causing her to cry more. In reality, she knew it was not all entirely Draco's fault; she gave into it and never stopped him when she had the chance. But she blamed him for doing this to her, taking away the last trace of innocence and dignity she had left. _I hate him._



The Malfoy's, Denoyers', and Hermione all returned to the Malfoy Manor that evening. Hermione had successfully ignored Draco for the remainder of the day, keeping conversation between the two at the utmost minimum. Once they arrived at the manor, Hermione claimed she was not feeling well and would not be able to join the others for dinner. Draco followed her up into his room, watching as she angrily pulled back the bed sheets before crawling into Draco's bed. Draco sat on the edge of the bed, facing Hermione as she started blankly at the wall as if it were her worst enemy.

"Gone back to being a prune have you?" he asked, as a small smile curled around his lips. No answer. A dark silence overwhelmed the room, causing Draco to shift uncomfortably. Seeing that there was no point in trying to talk to her, Draco stood and made his way to the door. As he turned the doorknob, Hermione spoke, her voice quiet and shaky.

"I want to go home Draco."

**A/N: **Hello! I'm so sorry for the long update. Diplomas are _finally _over and this semester won't be too hard for me. Hurray! Thanks so much for the reviews, you guys are truly the best (mwah). Anyways, I'll start working on the next chapter! Please review!


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I own only the story and nothing else. There, now you can't sue me.

**Chapter 11**

_Eight weeks later_

Draco stared blankly at the canopy hanging over his bed. It had been almost over two months since she had left. At much as he hated to admit it, he missed her constant nagging and being called an insufferable prat every now and then. He decided that he would not let her stay against her will, and either way, she would have tried to have left and succeeded no matter what he did. He feared that she would have actually turned into a prune if he made her stay. He did not want to force her into anything she did not want. He could have barricaded the room with millions of enchantments, but she was after all, the cleverest witch of the age, he being the best wizard of the age of course (or so he'd like to think), but she easily could have lifted the enchantments and walked out the front door. He ignored the faint knocking on his bedroom door, not wanting to be disturbed in his time of agony.

"Draco?" Narcissa's gentle voice could be heard behind the door. She opened the door and walked in, looking around the dark room. "You may be pale Draco, but there is no need to live the life of a vampire. It is so depressing in this room. Why is it so dark in here?" When no reply came, she sighed heavily and waved her small delicate hand aimlessly, instantly causing the heavy curtains to open, allowing the brilliance of the sunset to shower the room. She walked towards her son's bed, waving her hand once more as several candles came to life. Pulling back the curtains falling from the canopy, Narcissa sat elegantly on Draco's bed, and waited. Draco lay completely still, in the same position he laid in for the past two hours.

"Draco," Narcissa took her son's hand in her hers. "I am your mother, and as your mother, I can sense when something is troubling you. If you think that you can hide something from me, you have to try harder. Right now, it would take a complete idiot to not realize all is not well with you." She smiled. "You do a prat job at trying to pretend nothing is wrong." Draco managed to force a small smile around his lips.

"What is the real reason in why Hermione went home Draco?"

"I told you mother," Draco answered wearily. "Her mother became ill and was in need of her loving daughter to look after her."

"But Hermione lives on her own, does she not? Why could Mr. Granger not take care of his wife instead?"

"Because he is unfortunately out of town on important business matters."

"Well, what about the house elves?"

"Please mother, let us stop fooling ourselves. You knew perfectly well from the start that Hermione is a muggle-born."

"Perhaps, but I also know perfectly well when you are deceitful because it seems that you are horrible at that too. Draco turned to his side, facing towards his mother, noticing the look of motherly concern strained across her fragile face.

"You love her, don't you?" A silence that Draco knew all too well, overcame the room with only the sound of the dance of the flickering flames, their shadows bouncing off the walls. He moved closer to his mother, resting his head on her lap. She sighed heavily again, caressing his head. "Oh Draco."



"Please Hermione, get off that couch. You've been moping around ever since you came home. Why don't you come join me at the table and have some sushi? I know how much you love it." Ginny said as she skillfully picked up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.

"I am not moping," Hermione answered half-heartedly. "I am just so tired, I don't even know why. And please don't bring that sushi anywhere near me, the smell is just unbearable."  
"The smell never seemed to bother you before. What's wrong with you lately? You never told me why you came home from the Malfoy prat manor so soon. Did Malfoy do something to you?" Hermione hoisted herself up on her elbows, turning her attention to the youngest redheaded Weasley. She could not do it. She could not bring herself to tell Ginny, her would-have-been sister-in-law that she had slept with Draco, she could not tell anyone.

"It was nothing. I just could not stand that whore Marie, I needed to get away from her for some time."

"So, you're planning on going back then?"

_Shit. I didn't think that one through enough._ "I suppose. I mean, it is part of my assignment that I should be there, I can't just abandon my job."

"Speaking of your job, what have you guys found out about whatshisname, William?" Hermione allowed herself to fall back onto the couch, thankful that she had gotten Ginny off the Draco topic, for now.

"It's hard to tell really if he is indeed a Death Eater. He's the quiet type, he doesn't say much really. He seems to have certain distaste for Harry though. Whenever he speaks of him or hears someone speaking of him, his expression completely changes. Subtly of course, but the hate is still there."

"Hermione, you're like a sister to me, you know that right?" Hermione sat up this time.

"Of course, you don't even have to ask."

"Then, why are you hiding something from me? You can trust me now just like you always have." Ginny walked over to the couch that Hermione laid, bringing a plate with sushi with her. "'Mione, I'm like your sister. Tell me what happened." Hermione sat up straight, facing her friend. The scent of the raw fish tingled Hermione's senses, causing her to suddenly feel nauseous as she brought her hand to cover her mouth.

"Hermione, are you okay?"

"No," was all Hermione managed to say before she jolted to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. After a few minutes, Hermione emerged from the bathroom and came face to face with the redheaded Weasley.

"How long?" Hermione was struck back.

"What? What do you mean? I-"

"Don't try to play as if you don't know what I'm talking about Hermione. Does Draco know?" Giving into her defeat, Hermione made her way back to the couch, placing her head in her hands. "He has a right to know," Ginny continued. "And you can't do this alone." Hermione tearfully looked up at her friend.

"You're not mad?" Hermione asked.

"How could I be mad? You're only human. Besides," a smile curved around Ginny's lips. "I get to be an auntie in a few months! That is, you are going to keep it, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm going to keep it. Even though it's Draco's offspring, this baby is mine too."

"And the fruit of your love," Ginny teased. Hermione suddenly turned a bright red, suddenly appearing to be an overgrown tomato with brown hair.

" 'Mione, I was just kidding unless…"

"Don't be silly Ginerva, this is _Malfoy _we're talking about"

"Well, I just assumed, considering that you shagged him and all". A small pop could be heard from outside Hermione's window, causing both women to shoot their attention outside. They both walked over to the window, wands at the ready. The popping sound was too familiar to the both of them, knowing perfectly well that someone had just disapparated.

"Maybe it was just some angry squirrel who threw something at the window" Ginny suggested.

"An angry squirrel?" Hermione playfully biffed Ginny over the head with the pillow, laughing at Ginny as she toppled over, missing an armchair and landing on the floor.

**A/N:** Well, there you go. Hope you liked this chapter. A huge thanks to all my reviewers, you guys are the bestest! (Not a real word, I know but neither is awesomeosity, which all of you are full of! ie. You're all awesome). Anyways, don't forget to hit that review button!


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except the story.

**Chapter 12**

"So the mudblood whore is pregnant then?" Lucius paced around his prison cell, fiddling with his long, slender, skeleton-like fingers behind his back.

"Indeed. I heard her and the youngest weasel talking." Once again, the veiled woman sat as elegantly as possible on a rickety wooden chair, her hands folded neatly on her lap.

"What more could this scum that I once called my son do to bring about more shame to the Malfoy name, more than there already is!" Lucius angrily pounded on the cold stonewall, cutting a fresh wound on his hand and causing the veiled woman to jump slightly in her chair. She walked over to her lover, taking out a delicate handkerchief to wipe the dripping blood that drizzled from Lucius' hand.

"My darling," Lucius said as she caressed the woman's face with his free hand. "I am counting on you to make sure that child does not live." The woman shuddered at these words.

"You must be strong," he continued. "The mudblood will return to the Manor, there is no doubt. Once she's there, push her down the staircase. Or you think of something, you are a clever witch." Lucius paced the cell again, tapping his scruffy chin with his finger. "Better yet, do not touch the bitch until our other plans have gone through. I shall deal with the mudblood, her bastard child, and my _son_ once I have achieved my freedom." Lucius gritted his teeth as he said the word "son", as if it were the repugnant word ever known to humanity.

**A/N:** Ta-dah! Short chapter but I hope that I'm boring ppl too bad with this story P. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews! (mwah). Please review!


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but the story.

**Chapter 13**

_Beloved Hermione,_

_I sincerely hope you find yourself in good health. As usual, nothing exciting has happened here at the Manor. It is almost as if that when you left, all life and excitement left with you._

_I never really knew or even know what love is, but what I feel for you is nothing compared to anything else that I have felt. I know, I know, it is all too cliché, I can just picture that prune look on your face but I am only trying to be honest._

Hermione sighed, tightly clutching Draco's letter to her chest. Two more months had passed until Hermione had finally decided on returning to the Malfoy Manor. During this time in which Hermione had been absent, Draco had written constantly every Friday, informing her of any news in particular of the happenings at the Manor.

At the same time, Ginny consistently reminded Hermione that her baby needed his or her father just as much as he or she needed their mother. She also reminded her that it was hopeless to try to make herself think that she too, missed Draco terribly. Absentmindedly, Hermione lightly rubbed the bump that had developed over the last four months. Looking down at the letter, firstly envying his elegant script once again, Hermione continued to read.

_Believe it or not, I miss you terribly and it tortures me everyday knowing that there is a large possibility that you will not return. I believe that in this point in time, I can say that the possibility you will return is only a lost hope. I can imagine that you do not believe anything that I say, for this is yet another letter that I have written to you since you left, that like the others, will receive no reply. I do not want to even imagine the hatred you must have for me now, thinking that my actions a few months ago were purely out of my "man whore" reputation, as you put it. It almost seems pointless to say, but what I did, what we did was because I knew that I truly loved you and love you more with each new day. Somehow I felt that you too, felt the same, you cannot deny that._

As if someone had grabbed hold of her heart and was squeezing it with all their might, Hermione crossed her hand over her chest, trying to ignore the aching feeling that somehow, in some inexplicable way, meant she loved Draco too. Was pratface actually right for once? Was this the feeling of a broken heart being mended?

_I do not know if you will return, but I can only hope. I hope that everything is well with you and your family. I hope, as always, to hear from you soon._

_With love now and always,_

_Draco Malfoy _

_P.S. The Denoyers have declared that they wish to extend their stay and so they plan to remain here at the Manor for another few months. Delightful, I know. I was jumping for joy when mother told me. Apparently they believe that you will not return anytime soon and once again hope that I will marry their whore of a daughter. All I can say is that I wish them luck and that I'd rather hex myself. Maybe I will open a charity named "Skirts and Knickers" in hopes to raise money so Marie can buy such things. Apparently Marie is completely oblivious to and has no apparent knowledge such things exist._

Smiling to herself, Hermione brought the letter closely to her lips, lightly kissing the parchment. Inhaling deeply, she detected Draco's cologne on the parchment instantly painting a vivid picture of Draco in her mind, flashing that beautiful smile that she had learned to adore. _What a prat_ she thought to herself, placing the letter away with the small pile of his other letters.



Draco lay aimlessly on his massive four-poster bed staring at the canopy, wearing nothing but silk boxers, legs hanging over the edge of the mattress, the silk sheets all in a clutter. The sun was setting in the distance as the colours of the setting sun danced around his room gradually leaving the room in darkness. _Twilight yet again, another day gone._ Candles flickered to life as darkness overcame the room.

Thoughts of Hermione entered his mind, once again setting off a deep sense of longing in Draco's chest. It had been four months since he had long last heard her voice, inhaled her sweet scent. It was complete torture. He had constantly written to her, each time hoping that she would reply only to shatter his hopes with each new day. A small grin curled around Draco's lips. Who would have thought that Draco Malfoy of all people would be sprawled on his bed, agonizing over a broken heart? A heart that had been broken by none other than Hermione Granger.

A soft knocking Draco recognized all too well interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm not here," Draco said before rolling over on his bed, hiding his face in the pillows. He blindly searched for the bed covers, hiding himself underneath them before waving his hand aimlessly, shutting the curtains hanging from the canopy.

"Draco?" Narcissa's voice came from behind the door.

"Draco is not in at the moment, please leave an owl and he shall get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you come again," Draco replied before hiding his head underneath the pillows.

"Honestly Draco, if you want to be a vampire so badly we could ask the Cullen's if they could be so kind to fulfill your wish," Narcissa said as she opened Draco's door. "And please comport yourself, this is no way to behave in front of a guest."

Draco rolled over in his bed, removing the covers to face his mother and their "guest". Draco could feel as though his heart had completely stopped beating. Even though the curtains only allowed the silhouettes of others to be seen, Draco recognized her instantly.

"Hermione?"

**A/N: **Hi there! I'm extremely sorry for the long update, I've just been so busy! Anyways, finally, here's another chapter for all of you to enjoy (or to hate…or love to hate, whichever you choose). Thanks so much to all my reviewers I love you all! Please read and review!


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except the story.

**Chapter 14**

His voice sounded hoarse. Narcissa silently left the room, gently closing the door behind her. Ripping the curtains open, Draco jumped to his feet and stood dumbfounded, disbelieving that Hermione stood there in the flesh before his eyes. Hermione did not move from the spot on which she stood, avoiding Draco's silver eyes.

"Hello Draco," Hermione finally said after a few minutes of silence. Her voice sounded small, no more than a whisper and completely different from the dignified and make-Draco-think-I-am-completely-fine impression she had wanted to give.

Draco took a few steps closer to Hermione until he was directly face-to-face. Hesitatingly, he lifted a finger to stroke her cheek, afraid that she was nothing more but a mere apparition sent to torment him. Once he felt that it was indeed Hermione, Draco let out a deep sigh and cupped her face in both of his hands, tilting her head upwards.

When their eyes met, Hermione brushed Draco's hands away and walked to a different part of the room, deciding to sit on the couch that once was Draco's bed. Draco stood where she had left him, staring blankly at the spot where she had stood.

Hermione fiddled impatiently with her fingers on her lap, waiting for Draco to break the overcastting silence that had settled in the room. Hermione gave into defeat and spoke first.

"Aren't you going to say something?" She asked. Draco turned around at that point to face her, the disbelieving gaze still upon his face. Hermione stared at him, wishing that he wasn't so gorgeous. He crossed his arms and smirked at her.

"Couldn't get enough of me then?" he asked. For once is many months, Draco burst out laughing as the expression on Hermione's face completely changed from a dazed, dreamy gaze to a disbelieving shocked expression.

"You are so bloody full of yourself!"

"My, my Miss Granger, such a fowl mouth you have."

"Argh, you are unbelievable Malfoy!"

"Unbelievably sexy? Yes we all knew that, but I thank you anyways."

"You are so frustrating! I knew I shouldn't have come back; you're impossible to deal with. You're just so immature!" Hermione stood at that moment, heading for the door, fuming with rage. Draco grasped her arm before she could take another step.

"No Hermione, don't leave me again. I am sorry that I acted immaturely. Please stay, I'll behave, I promise." Draco turned her around at this point, forcing Hermione to look at him, the last thing she wanted to do. The moment their eyes met, Hermione felt her heart give a small jolt, something that she could not explain. There was something in his eyes that proved to Hermione that he was being utterly honest.

They stood there for a moment, lingering in the same position, neither one daring to move or to say a word. Slowly, Draco released the grip he had on Hermione's arm and once again cupped her face in between his hands.

"I truly am sorry Hermione, I never meant to hurt you." His voice was barely audible, hardly a whisper. Slowly but surely, Draco leaned his face closer and closer to Hermione's, piercing her chocolate eyes with his silver ones as he did.

Hermione felt that her heart was racing and that it would explode at any moment until the bedroom doors suddenly burst open accompanied by what sounded like nails on a chalkboard, a voice Hermione recognized (and hoped never to hear again) all to well.

"So it's true then? The fat bitch is back, I think I shall hex myself." Marie burst into the room, wearing a "dress" that looked more like she had lost three quarters of it.

"I think it would do us all a favour if you did. In fact, why don't I do it for you?"Hermione replied as she pulled out her wand and pointed it directly at Marie. Draco moved to the space between the two women, knowing that Marie would be a ferret in less than two seconds. He pushed himself backwards into Hermione and she struggled to get past him and taking in his scent at the same time.

"You have no reason to be in here Marie, get out," Draco said, looking fiercely at Marie.

"Oh but Drakey, you know how much I luuuurve it when you look at me like that. If it weren't for these clothes and this space between us, I would have you right now." Draco backed away from Marie pushing Hermione along as he did as Marie inched her way closer to him.

"I just don't know what you see in _her_ Draco. She's so worthless and has gained so much weight, just look at that stomach! It almost looks like she's pregnant or something." Hermione could feel Draco stiffen in front of her but he remained perfectly calm. She was sure that he could feel her heart pounding on his back.

"Marie, please comport yourself. This is no way a lady should act and Draco is right, you should not be in his room, even more so when he is not fully dressed." Jacqueline had appeared at the doorway, her hands folded in a lady-like fashion. "Please pardon Marie, Draco. She can be extremely childish at times. It is such lovely news that you have returned to the manor Miss Granger," Jacqueline walked into Draco's room, placing her hands on Marie's shoulders. "I hope your mother is doing well and once again, please excuse Marie's behaviour. We shall see you at dinner." With that, Jacqueline steered Marie out of the room, closing the doors behind her.

Draco muttered a spell underneath his breath, locking the bedroom doors. He spun around to face Hermione, moving away from her to examine her from head to toe. His face was expressionless. He lifted a trembling hand and placed it on Hermione's belly.

He looked deeply into her eyes as if searching for an answer. Sighing deeply, Hermione knew perfectly well the question that was racing through Draco's head. She closed her eyes and nodded.

It felt as if an eternity had passed before Draco said anything or even moved. He wore the same expressionless face until a look of complete overwhelming joy filled his face, lighting up his silver eyes that made Hermione's heart melt. He embraced her suddenly in a tight hug, lifting her and twirling her about.

"Hermione, love, this is fanbloodytastic! You have no idea how happy you have made me!" Draco exclaimed as he carefully sat Hermione on the bed, kissing her hand and he did.

"Draco," Hermione slipped her hand out of Draco's and recoiled away from him. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Even though I am overjoyed with having a baby, this is not the way I imagined it would be." Draco's expression darkened.

"What are you trying to say, that this was a mistake?" Draco asked coldly.

"Of course it was a mistake Draco, can't you see that? The consequence of our actions is coming through. You and me weren't supposed to happen. This wasn't part of this assignment, exactly what progress have we made on finding out information on William? We got distracted, side-tracked, fallen behind on our mission and now I am going to have a baby with you nonetheless." Hermione looked away from Draco as she said this, her vision had gotten blurry from the tears that were forming. Draco paced around the room, massaging his forehead.

"I did not make you have sex with me. You had the choice to say yes or no and you plainly said yes. You obviously regretted it; there is no doubt about that. Maybe I am the one to blame for being so fucking stupid in thinking that something could exist between the both of us." Hermione jumped as Draco pounded a wall with his fist.

"I don't care if you regret what you and I did Hermione, but don't you dare say this child was a mistake. You have no idea what it is like to be known as a mistake." Draco breathed deeply and sharply looked at Hermione from the corner of his eyes. "Do you really regret it that much that I helped in conceiving that child?" Hermione could feel a betraying tear crawling slowly down the side of her cheek.

"Answer me Hermione,"

"How could I not? You are the offspring of the man who took away my happiness, the scum who ruined my life."

"Then why in fucking hell did you open your bloody legs to me?" Draco pounded the wall with every word.

"Because I love you Draco, are you that bloody thick?" Draco turned his head to face Hermione whose face was now streaming with tears. She ran towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

**A/N:** Well there you go, yet another chapter for all to read! I want to give a HUGE thank you to all my lovely readers and reviewers you guys are the best! Don't forget to review!


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, expect the story blah, blah, blah same old, same old. Don't sue and enjoy!

**Chapter 15**

"How very touching. The mudblood _loves _that bastard son of mine. I think I'm going to be sick." Lucius paced his prison cell, puffing away on his cigarette that reeked of cheap tobacco. Once again, the veiled woman sat on the rickety chair, watching Lucius pace himself around the cell.

"She's well into her pregnancy, about four months," the woman said. Lucius stopped and leaned his forehead against the cold cell wall.  
"My time for escape is approaching in a few months time and I know how to hit my _son_ where it hurts the most. I have a task for you my love."



_Four months later._

Ever since the incident in which Hermione had admitted she loved him, Hermione was yet again giving Draco the silent treatment. She only spoke to him when others were around them but otherwise not a single word was exchanged between the two of them, at least not on Hermione's part.

Draco tried to get Hermione to speak to him again but only had just recently managed a single nod out of her when he asked if she was feeling well. Hermione's belly had grown quite large over the past four months causing Hermione much discomfort in everything she did.

"My dear Hermione," William spoke one evening during dinner. "I hear that the Potter boy is to marry in a few months. Is it true?" Hermione knew perfectly well that it was indeed true. Harry had visited her a few months ago when she was at home, inviting her personally to his wedding with KeeLee. He explained to her that he loved her and that she too was expecting a baby. A baby boy nonetheless whose name was to be Shayden. Of course, no one knew KeeLee was pregnant or else people would say that was the only reason why Harry was marrying her. He explained that he had proposed to KeeLee long before she became pregnant.

"Potter is getting married?" Draco asked.

"Why yes Drakey, and you'll never guess to whom," Marie spoke as she threw a "seductive" look towards Draco.

"Your cousin KeeLee love," Narcissa answered for Draco. Draco nearly choked on the wine he was drinking, nearly spraying it through his nose. Hermione rolled her eyes as she stroked Draco's back. He always overreacted. He looked at Hermione, searching her face for an answer, something to confirm what was being said. She sighed and nodded.

Draco's face screwed up, revealing a variety of expressions. Hermione only managed to catch surprise, anger, and a tinge of disgust.

"Pardon my asking but, Hermione my dear, when exactly do you and Draco plan to marry? I must say this wedding has been pending for quite some time now," Jacqueline swirled her wine in the glass she held in her delicate hand. "You've progressed quite a bit in your pregnancy, people may start to think that your engagement is false and Draco only wishes to marry you in order for you not to give birth to a bastard child. Can you imagine? A Malfoy running around as a bastard?"

"I beg your pardon?" Hermione slightly glared at Jacqueline.

"Oh, do not fret but why could you not wait to open your legs until _after_ the wedding? It is degrading to see an unmarried, pregnant _lady_. How do you expect to marry in a white dress? I assume that you will not or else even a common whore could marry in a white dress."

"What are you dithering about? Are you saying that I am a whore? Have you not taken a good look at your daughter? How dare you point a finger at me!" Hermione stood angrily at this point, throwing her napkin furiously down on the table. Jacqueline looked blankly at Hermione, almost as if what she was saying was nothing more but the mere truth.

"No need to get all fussy my dear, I was merely asking-"

"Perhaps you should keep such questions and comments to yourself madam," Draco interrupted, his fists curling in balls, his knuckles if possible, growing paler.

"My dear boy, I was just pointing out how a dignified _lady_ does not just simply give herself to her fiancé before the wedding-"

"To hell with you! I don't know how you can call yourself a _lady _with all that shit you're talking spills from your mouth!" Hermione turned on her heels and wobbled angrily out of the dining room up to Draco's bedroom. Tears flowed down Hermione's face as she sat on Draco's bed, cradling her belly.

Draco entered the room, closing the door behind him and muttering a locking spell as he walked towards Hermione. He sat beside her, waiting for her to speak, using all his strength not to hold her in his arms in fear that she would push him away. They sat in silence, with only Hermione's sniffles and gasps for air as the only sound. For the first time in months, she was first to speak.

"Draco, I-I can't do this, what did I get myself into?"

"Don't worry about what people say love," Draco reassured her in a small and caring voice. "No one has the right to point fingers at others because when you point your finger, you have three fingers pointing back at you. I don't understand why people don't just point with all their fingers so none are pointing back." He demonstrated pointing with all five fingers on his right hand, outstretching his hand so Hermione could see.

"Because you look more like a great prat if you point like that," Hermione chuckled at Draco's idiocy.

"It's wonderful to see you smile again Hermione, you have no idea how much I've missed that." Draco carefully wiped away the tears that continued to fall on Hermione's face. Hermione looked away, wiping them away herself. The small contact of skin sent shivers down her spine.

"I have a gift," Draco stood and walked over to the dresser, opening the bottom drawer and handing Hermione a small bag as he sat on the bed once again. "Go on, open it." Hermione smiled as she pulled out a tiny unisex white gown with a matching cap and booties.

"You never did mention the sex of the baby," Draco asked as he saw how Hermione's face lit up.

"I don't know," Hermione answered. "I didn't want to know, I wanted it to be a surprise." They sat in silence yet again, neither one knowing what to say next until Draco stood.

"I'm going to see my mother and bid her goodnight. I'll be back." Hesitatingly, Draco slightly kissed the top of Hermione's head and her belly before he left.

Hermione sighed as Draco left the room. Perhaps Jacqueline had too much wine at dinner. She wiped away all traces of tears off her face as she made her way to the lavatory to get ready for bed. Once she returned to the bedroom, the bed was ready for her to slip into and a nightgown was laid neatly on the bed. Wanda had been very helpful over the past few months, keeping everything that Hermione would usually do to a bare minimum.

As soon as Hermione had crawled into bed, Draco re-entered the room quietly, thinking that Hermione had gone to sleep. She lay perfectly still, pretending to be fast asleep. He tiptoed to the lavatory and Hermione had to smile into her pillow. She had to admit he was cute, some of the time.

When Draco returned from the lavatory, Hermione could feel his presence as he stood behind her, watching her "sleep". She felt her heart race as he leaned in closer to her and could feel his warm breath on her neck.

"You're a horrible actress love," he said before he kissed her lightly on the cheek and ruffled her hair. She remained pretending to sleep as she rolled over and stretched, smacking Draco in the face "accidentally" as she did.

"Ow! Just for that, I'm laying next to you until you actually fall asleep. You're lucky I don't duff you up with this pillow." Draco made his way to the other side of the bed, slipping in under the covers as he waved his hand aimlessly, dimming the lights and closing the curtains that fell over the canopy of his bed. Once he was comfortable, he was the first to speak.

"Do you remember the first few months that you lived here, we used to talk endlessly into the night?" No reply. "Giving me the silent treatment once again? But you were just talking to me again. Grand." Draco started to get up until Hermione spoke.

"Don't leave Draco, stay. I suppose we could talk for a little while." Even in the dim darkness, Hermione knew Draco was smirking. "Do you remember that day at the Kingston's," she continued once Draco was underneath the covers again and was facing her. "When we, well, I went out with KeeLee and her friends, and we found you behind a vase?"

"Mmhmm,"

"You said that you were going to tell me something, you looked like you were going to be sick." The images of his mother and William snogging in secret made Draco shiver underneath the blankets. He explained to Hermione what he had seen and had managed to make out from their conversation, which in reality, was not that much to begin with.

"How long do you think they've been together?" Hermione asked when Draco had finished.

"I'm not sure. I knew she had a boyfriend she had wanted me to meet. I think William was a boyfriend of hers in her youth. She once told me that there was only one man she ever loved and it was not my _father. _Perhaps that man was William. Maybe this other boyfriend she wanted me to meet was her trying to get over everything she had suffered with Lucius as well as William."

"Why didn't you meet this man?"

"I had a slight suspicion that it would have been Severus,"

"Snape!?"

"That is precisely why I didn't want to meet him." They continued to talk deep into the night, eventually talking about Harry and KeeLee's plans to marry. Hermione reassured Draco that Harry truly did love KeeLee, leaving out the part about little Shayden.

As soon as Hermione was beginning to doze off, Draco quietly attempted to get out of the bed and make his way to the loveseat on which he slept.

"Draco," Hermione said as she grabbed his arm. "Put your hand on my stomach, the baby is kicking around." Draco smiled and placed both of his hands on Hermione's belly. The baby was indeed kicking around.

"Always on the move, like a true Malfoy," Draco whispered.

"Don't be so modest you prat," Hermione half-smiled into her pillow. Draco chuckled. He stared at her for some time, admiring her beauty as she was close to falling asleep. Bringing a shaking hand to her face, Draco carefully caressed Hermione's face, running his thumb along her lips. Hesitatingly, Draco inched his face closer to hers, until he could feel her breath on his face. Hermione slowly fluttered open her eyes, meeting her milk chocolate eyes with his silver.

"I love you Hermione, I truly do." With that, he closed the space between them, tasting the familiar cinnamon flavour on her lips. He recoiled from the kiss, as he moved away to leave, but Hermione grabbed his arm once again and curled up against his warm chest before falling fast asleep. As if a reflex, Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione, smiling as he took in the familiar strawberry scent of her hair before he too fell asleep.

**A/N: **Yet another chapter! What did you think? Hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter will be up soon, maybe sooner than you think! Thanks so much to all my readers and reviewers! Don't forget to review!


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: **Do you really want me to say it again? Sigh, I own nothing but the story.

**Chapter 16**

The next morning, Hermione awoke to the sound of Draco's peaceful breathing. She nuzzled her face into his smooth chest as he stirred and stroked her hair.

"I don't know about you, but I was sleeping," he muffled.

"Yes but it is morning now, and I need to pee," Hermione answered as she hoisted herself in a sitting position, lightly placing a kiss on Draco's lips before fully getting up and heading towards the lavatory.

"Well that's new," Draco said as his eyes shot open. "What's with the change in heart?"

"Would you prefer if I gave you the silent treatment again?" Hermione called from the lavatory.

"So how did you sleep?"

"That's what I thought," Draco chuckled as he sprawled himself diagonally across the bed. Hermione emerged from the lavatory wearing a robe over her nightgown and tutted at Draco.

"Don't tut at me Miss Twisted Prune-faced Knickers,"

"Pratface," Hermione smacked Draco directly in the face with a pillow and giggled at the expression he wore on his face.

"Draco! If you're awake, could you come down here for a moment?" William called from somewhere on the lower floor.

"He said if I'm awake…"

"Oh don't be so lazy. It's not like he's going to cast a spell on you," Draco reluctantly rose from the bed, slipping a green silk robe with a dragon imprinted on the back as he made his way towards the door.

"We haven't finished. You're going to get a serious duffing up when I return." Hermione smiled behind Draco as he left. She remembered that she hadn't written to neither Harry nor Ginny in the past couple of weeks and made her way to Draco's writing desk. There was no parchment in any of the drawers. _Strange, it's not like Draco to be out of parchment. _Hermione stood and thought about looking for Narcissa and asking her for parchment.

As soon as she opened the bedroom doors, Marie was standing at the doorway with her arms crossed along her chest.

"'Morning whore face, sleep well?" Marie asked in her extremely whiny voice. Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed past Marie, shoulder checking her as she did.

"Ow, feisty aren't we? No wonder Draco likes you,"

"Go away Marie, I haven't given you a reason for you to pester me," Hermione annoyingly said as she walked away, Marie trailing behind her every step.

"Oh but you have. You fucked my Drakey-poo and now you're carrying his child. I think that's reason enough." Hermione walked past an ugly vase that stood in the middle of the floor at the top of the staircase. She wished she could just lodge the priceless ugly piece at Marie, making one perfect ugly couple. "I bet Draco has yet to fuck a girl like me. He probably thinks of me and calls out my name when he's with you,"

"Enough!" Hermione spun around at the top of the staircase, slapping Marie as hard as she could across the face. "You're lucky I don't hex you right here on this spot!" She turned around once again, taking a single step down the staircase.

"You're lucky if I don't kill you."

It seemed like an eternity but in reality, it had only lasted a matter of seconds. Hermione felt Marie's hands on her back as they pushed her down the lengthy staircase. Hermione opened her mouth to scream, but no sound escaped her mouth as she tumbled further and further down the stairs. She felt as if she was falling through an endless, narrow, bumpy tunnel, hitting every inch of her body as if she was being stabbed by a thousand daggers until finally, she tumbled onto the floor at the very foot of the stairs. Hermione landed on her back, blinking away the stars that flashed between her eyes until she felt a warm trail of blood trickling down her leg.

It was then she let out an ear-piercing scream that echoed and bounced off the walls of the manor. She clutched her stomach tightly as tears streamed down her cheeks. She could hear a woman scream and glass shattering from somewhere on the upper level.

"Draco!" she cried in agony. "Draco, oh Draco! Help me!"

A sinister laugh coming from the top of the stairs filled the room; sending cold shivers down Hermione's spine. The laughter of a maniac, a maniac Hermione recognized only too well. Hermione forced herself to hoist herself up on her elbows, crying out in pain as more imaginary daggers stabbed at her womb. As she looked at the top of the staircase, to confront the source of the sinister laugh, panic raced through Hermione's veins as she laid her teary milk chocolate eyes on Lucius Malfoy.

**A/N: **Gasp, what happens next? Told you the next chapter would be up sooner than you think (as in, hour and a half later teehee). Anyways, don't forget to review!


	18. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **I own nada but the story. None of the characters, places, etc are mine (although I wouldn't mind the new sexified Daniel Radcliffe and yes, I know "sexified" isn't a word but it is now).

**Chapter 17**

Hermione could feel that she was close to hyperventilating as she felt her blood pumping harder and harder as it flowed through her veins. She desperately clutched a coin that dangled from a necklace she wore. Her idea of using communicating coins from her fifth year at Hogwarts became so popular that they even used it at the ministry whenever someone was in trouble. This was definitely much more than being in trouble. Hermione only hoped that the other Auror's would arrive as soon as possible.

Lucius stood at the top of the stairs with Marie and Jacqueline standing on either side of him. A sudden thud echoed through the room, making Hermione realize that Lucius had dragged Narcissa from her room and had performed petrificus totalus on her. Narcissa's eyes moved around in her sockets in desperation, unable to move a not even a single strand of hair and only able to witness the horrors about to come.

The hot tears flowed harder down Hermione's face as she struggled to get as far away from the staircase, causing the imaginary daggers to continuously stab her at the womb. A strong vomiting sensation curled up at the back of Hermione's throat, but she held it back.

"Draco! Draco where are you?" she managed to cry out again.

"Draco! Draco! Draco! Pah! You have no idea how pathetic you sound, you filthy little mudblood," Lucius mocked Hermione as he pushed back a graying strand of hair from his face. "Marie my dear, you have done well." The vomiting sensation returned to Hermione as she watched Lucius embrace Marie and "passionately" shove his tongue down her throat in what he called a "kiss".

"You have done your job well over these past few months," Lucius continued as he held Marie close to his body. Hermione noticed that he slipped Marie's wand from her pocket before "kissing" her again. More hatred stung Hermione as she realized Lucius was about to betray Marie. "You helped me escape from Azkaban, kept surveillance on my _son _and the mudblood, and now your job is done,"

"Marie!" Hermione cried out. "Watch out!" But it was too late. If Hermione had blinked, she would have missed the scene entirely. A flash of green light emerged from the tip of Marie's wand and she crumpled to the floor as a lifeless corpse.

"You did please me," Lucius spoke to Marie's lifeless body. "Some of the time."

"NO! You bastard!" Jacqueline cradled Marie's lifeless body in her arms as tears streamed rapidly down her face. "You promised you wouldn't hurt her! Think of all that she had done for you!"

"Oh shut up my dear Jacqueline, you always did dither too much. You were no better lover than her, I always had to do all the work." Jacqueline screamed as she launched herself towards Lucius but barely had a chance to near him as her body fell to the floor as the killing curse hit her as well.

"Stop it!" Hermione cried. She could feel old wounds bursting open as the images flashing before her eyes brought back old memories. It was then that Lucius laid his cold eyes on her.

Lucius began to descend the stairs, slowly torturing Hermione as he took each step cautiously and at a snail's pace. Again, Hermione struggled to crawl away. She realized that a pool of blood had accumulated at her feet. After what seemed eons, Lucius came face to face with Hermione, towering over her bloody body.

"Well, well," he began. "How is it that the mudblood princess, side kick of that cunt of Harry Potter was able to help in defeating a powerful wizard such as the Dark Lord, but yet, cowers away at his lowly servant? Most amusing I think."

Hermione drew her wand and pointed it directly at Lucius, only causing him to laugh manically. He kicked the wand out of her hand, kicking her face at the same time. The contact of his shoe on her face caused Hermione's nose to break with a nauseating crack as blood drizzled down her face. She cried aloud in pain.

"Perhaps you would like to see the disgrace I once called my son?" Hermione glared at him through tearful eyes. "William! Come forward with Draco," Lucius chuckled as he moved away from Hermione, revealing what was behind him.

Draco appeared with William behind him. Draco wore a gazed expression on his face, almost as if William had forced him to try some "special" brownies.

"Draco!" Hermione cried out, "Oh Draco, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!"

"Shut up!" Lucius ordered as he bent down and punched Hermione in the face, causing another cry to leave Hermione's mouth.

Hermione tearfully looked up at Draco, only to see that he wore the same gazed expression. Her voice cracked as she cried out to him.

"Draco? Draco, what's wrong? What has he done to you?" hysteria pumped its way to Hermione's heart.

"I am certain that as much credit as they give you Miss Granger, you could perfectly tell that your beloved Draco is under the Imperius curse," Lucius answered. William continued to walk forward and Hermione saw that he held his wand pointed directly at Draco. Draco too, had his wand in his hand.

"No, Draco please, try to snap out of it," Hermione pleaded, knowing that it was almost impossible for any wizard or witch to break free of the Imperius curse. Lucius' maniacal laugh filled the room once again as he turned to face Hermione once more.

"You have no idea how amusing it is to see a mudblood such as yourself beg. But I am getting tired of this. William," Lucius beckoned William forward. "Command Draco to kill his beloved mudblood." William hesitated.

A complete look of horror spread across Hermione's face as she looked from Lucius to Draco to William back and forth.

"Well, what are you waiting for? I gave you an order William," William looked at Hermione and she caught his beady eyes and saw how they were filled with uncertainty.

"I won't do it," William finally spoke, loosening the grip on his wand.

"Pah, you were always useless. It's your idiotic care for everyone that never convinced the Dark Lord to give you the Dark Mark. I should have known your weakness would overcome you." Lucius raised Marie's wand that he still held and pointed it directly at William.

"NO!" Narcissa cried from the top of the stairs. The effects of the spell were wearing off her as the upper portion of her body was unfreezing.

"Do not fret my love, we shall see each other again some day," William called out to Narcissa.

"Avada Kedvra!"

William's now lifeless body crumpled to the floor, causing Draco to be free of the Imperius curse. Draco collapsed to the floor unconsciously.

"Draco!" Hermione cried as she struggled to crawl closer to him. A banging on the front doors caused Hermione to jump and scream aloud.

"Hermione!" Harry's muffled voice came from the other side of the door. Several unlocking spells hit the front doors, each one unsuccessful.

"Fuck! We need to break down the doors," Harry cried from the other side.

"Such a clever little witch, managed to call your little friends while I had my back turned did you?" Lucius sneered between his teeth. "No matter, let us speed up the process shall we?"

Draco began to stir as Hermione drew closer to him. Lucius pointed his wand at his son.

"Crucio!" he cried. Draco let out a blood-shrieking scream as his body twisted into different angles. His eyes shot open and saw Hermione, and he stretched out his hand to her. Hermione stretched her bloody hand towards Draco but let out yet another scream as Lucius stomped on her hand.

"I don't think so," Lucius spat. "Let's get this over with. You make me sick. Imperio!" Draco's silver eyes clouded over as the expression on Draco's face changed from excruciating pain to a stern, unreadable one. "Stand Draco," Hermione attempted to cower away as Draco stood and towered over Hermione's bloody body.

"Kill the mudblood."

**A/N: **Ahh! (Bites fingernails) Omgosh, omgosh. Thanks so much for all your wonderful reviews! Don't forget to review! (Starts working on next chapter)


	19. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, blah, blah, blah, on with the story!

**Chapter 18**

"Do it Draco, you ungrateful mistake of a son. Kill your beloved mudblood and her bastard child." Lucius gritted his command between his teeth.

Draco made a step forward and raised his wand. He seemed almost reluctant. Hermione could swear she saw a speck of silver glisten in his eyes, almost as if he was trying to break free of the curse. Lucius tightened the grip he had on Marie's wand.

"Do it now Draco," Draco pointed his wand directly at Hermione.

"No Draco, please don't do this," Hermione begged through tearful pleads as she clutched her stomach. A sudden loud banging made Hermione jump.

"Again!" she heard Harry's muffled cry from the other side of the front doors and once again, the banging echoed and filled the manor.

"Dammit," Lucius cursed, as his knuckles grew paler as he tightened his grip even more.

"Draco, please love. Don't do this," Hermione pleaded again. "I love you and I know that you love me, don't do it."

"NOW DRACO!"

"Avada-"

A sickening thud echoed throughout the room as the ugly vase at the top of the staircase came hurtling down and collided with Lucius' head. Narcissa had managed to grab the vase and throw it at Lucius just in time. Lucius cursed loudly as he felt the hot blood escaping from his skull and lost his grip on his wand, causing Draco to fall forward onto his knees and sending Lucius off staggering in frenzy.

Draco blinked several times, shaking his head that was full of cloudiness. He ran a hand through his hair and heard a small voice near by.

"Draco," Hermione said, unsure if he had heard her. Draco looked up at her and cried out loud at the sight of her. The lower portion of Hermione's body was completely covered in blood while her nose also dripped blood and her left eye was almost as big as a plum. Anger spread across Draco's beautiful face. Hermione half expected sparks to fly off random parts of his body.

Draco stood, still gripping his wand and turned to face Lucius. Lucius had stopped staggering at this point and was shaking his head about in attempts to recollect himself. Draco tackled Lucius to the ground, releasing a low growl from the back of his throat. He continuously punched Lucius in the face but not for very long. Lucius grabbed hold of Draco's arm and punched him back, causing Draco to fly off of him onto the floor. Lucius licked the blood that was trickling from his mouth and smiled evilly at Draco as he towered over him.

"You are no son of mine," he spat as he pointed Marie's wand at Draco.

The banging on the front doors ended as a hollow crash bounced off the walls and the running footsteps of several Auror's echoed through the manor's main entrance.

This commotion temporarily distracted Lucius, allowing Draco to kick Lucius directly in his crotch, causing Lucius to topple over in pain. This time, it was Draco who towered over Lucius, pointing his wand directly at his chest.

"You called me a mistake my whole life, nothing I did was ever good enough for you _father_," Draco spoke as he jerked his head back to move a strand of hair from his face. "You said I was pathetic, but now look at you! I guess I learned how to be pathetic from the best. You said I was to bring disgrace to the Malfoy name but you brought that upon yourself."

"Hermione!" Harry's voice echoed at the end of the hall.

"You will kill your own father Draco? How very degrading," Lucius spoke as he looked up at Draco.

"No _father, _it is you who is degrading."

The Auror's from the ministry entered the room with Harry and Ginny leading the group, as a flash of green light emerged from Draco's wand. Complete silence overcame the room until Draco's wand fell to the floor and he turned to run towards Hermione.

He reached her, and cradled her in his arms. His shoulders heaved up and down fiercely as tears ran down his cheek, dropping on Hermione's face like drops of rain. Hermione dreamingly looked up at Draco.

"Draco, love, why are you crying? It's all over now," she spoke in barely a whisper. Even then, her voice was raspy from all the screaming.

"I am so sorry Hermione. I have to get you to St. Mungo's. There's so much blood everywhere-" Draco cut off his sentence as he continued to cry, rocking Hermione back and forth in his arms.

Hermione smiled and brought a bloody hand to Draco's face, softly caressing his pale skin. Draco sobbed harder as he kissed her palm.

"I love you Hermione, I really do."

"I know Draco, and I love you too. I never thought I could love anyone, but you made me realize otherwise. I love you so much Draco, I don't know what I would do without you. What happened today made me realize how much I care about you. I was so afraid something had happened to you, that you were dead. I didn't know if I could bear another broken heart, not after it had been mended."

"Hermione love, I will never break your heart. I am right here with you, and I will never leave you." Hermione smiled again.

"I'd hunt you down and duff you up pretty good if you did. But right now, I just want to sleep-" Draco lifted his head to look at Hermione, his teary red eyes wide open. Hermione smiled at him once again and slowly, she closed her eyes.

"Hermione?" Draco cried anxiously. "Hermione!"

**A/N: **Evil? Yes I know hehe. Please review and thanks to everyone who has reviewed! You guys are the best, mwah.


	20. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing expect the story.

**Epilogue**

_One year and a half later_

Draco stared out of his bedroom window, completely lost in thought. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining and the heavens were still. The beauty of the outdoors reminded him of Hermione, _his _Hermione. He pictured her beautiful smile, the scent of her hair, the cinnamon taste of her lips that lingered still even after he had kissed her.

His thoughts were shortly interrupted when two small hands started smacking away on his bum, asking for his attention.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look at meeee! I look like a queen!"

Draco turned around and picked up his daughter, Vivia Calista Malfoy and kissed her lightly on her chubby and rosy cheeks. She had the same long, sleek bleach blond hair and silver eyes of her father, but the skin colour and face was of Hermione's.

"No! Bad daddy!" she whined as she tried to wriggle free of his grip. "Mama won't be happy if you wrinkle up my pretty dress."

"Nah, she can't be mad at me! I'm much too pretty for her to stay mad at me," Draco said confidently as he sat Vivia on his bed.

"Look daddy, I look like mama, but much prettier!" Vivia jumped off the bed and twirled around in her white dress. Her hair was styled into a loose bun with tresses and a tiara. Today was the Malfoy-Granger wedding.

"Yes, I bet you do, but don't tell mama I said that,"

"I'll tell her later," Vivia smirked at her father, the same signature smirk that Draco had. "Look at the prezzie Shay gave me daddy!" Vivia held out her tiny hand to show her father a Ring Pop that Shayden Potter nicknamed Shay, the son of KeeLee and Harry had given her. Vivia and Shayden were to walk down the aisle together, dressed as a bride and groom.

"How very sweet of Shay" Draco said, taking a lick of the candy ring.

"Bad daddy!" Vivia exclaimed with glee and she gave Draco a huge grin. She wrapped her tiny arms around Draco's neck and placed a large wet kiss on his cheek before running out of the room.

"I looobe you daddy!" she yelled as she ran out of the bedroom.

"I love you too baby," Draco called after her. Draco took a deep breath and looked at himself once more in the mirror. He looked almost like a runaway model dressed a black suit, white shirt, and a red vest with matching tie. He smiled and made his way to the limousine waiting outside. Hermione had insisted on a semi-muggle wedding, for the sake of her muggle side of the family. On the ride to the church, flashbacks of memories ran through Draco's mind yet again.

On the horrific event that had occurred almost two years ago, Draco cradled his dying Hermione in his arms. As soon as she had closed her eyes, Draco scooped her up and ran towards Harry, asking him to help apparate Hermione to St. Mungo's.

Hermione was immediately taken care of, given her delicate condition. The Healer's had almost given up hope but Draco urged them to do everything they possibly could to save both Hermione and their baby. The Healer's explained that they would have to perform an emergency cesarean section for they had found that the baby was still alive. They also required a blood donation.

Harry immediately offered to donate his blood but it was Draco who had the same blood type as Hermione. Draco was rapidly taken away to extract the blood. The female Healer's had to poke Draco several times in order to find a vein. He moved anxiously on the bed causing the Healer's to lose track of the location of a vein until Harry came in and smacked Draco across the face to calm him down.

The blood transfusion was successful and there was hope that Hermione would survive. The only downfall was whether or not she would survive the operation, as well as the baby.

Fortunately, the operation was a success and the Healer's proclaimed it as a miracle that such beautiful baby girl was able to survive as well as the mother. That is the reason in which Draco and Hermione chose Vivia Calista, Vivia meaning "alive" and Calista meaning "the most beautiful".

Draco hadn't realized that his thoughts had lingered on longer than he had expected. He thought about the day he almost lost Hermione and Vivia all the way to the church during the limo ride. He stepped out of the limo and made his way through the welcoming doors of the church towards the alter.

Forty-five minutes after all of the guests had arrived, including photographers; the Wedding March began to play. Vivia and Shayden entered the church, hand in hand as they made their way towards the alter, followed by Harry with Ginny and KeeLee on either side of him. They couldn't decide on just one maid of honour.

Draco fiddled with his fingers behind his back until Vivia tugged on his pant leg, giving him reassurance that everything was fine. _The kid is smart, for being a kid. _He held his breath as Hermione appeared at the doorway.

She wore an extremely puffy white strapless dress. The upper portion of the dress was a corset design, even with the lace-up criss-cross design in the back. Her tiara was an exact replica of the one Vivia wore, only bigger and she carried a bouquet of red roses.

She smiled at Draco as she made her way down the aisle, looking only at him. The day had finally come and this time, there would be no broken hearts. (With the exception of all of Draco's admirers).

**The End.**

**A/N: **Wow, the end, I still can't believe it! Crazy eh? (Yes, I said "eh"). I hope that ending wasn't too crap, endings are always the hardest to write. I love Vivia! Can't you just imagine her? She's so damn cute! Anyways, I want to give out a HUGE thanks to all my readers and reviewers, if it weren't for you guys, this story wouldn't even have existed. Thanks so much for all the support and I'll start scraping up ideas for a new story. See ya! Mwah.


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